Inky Legacy
by goofnutgav
Summary: Lewis Stein never expected much in his life. Go to work, patrol the streets of New York City, and retire later in life. But when he arrived at Joey Drew's Studios, all the training he learned in the academy would never prepare him for the horrors he would experience, and how he would discover the fate of Henry Stein, his missing great-grandfather.
1. Chapter 1

Brooklyn, New York City, June 11, 2018.

My alarm clock went off, and I shut it off as I was getting out of bed.

 _"Ugh, just another morning in the Big Apple,"_ I thought groggily while I was headed to the bathroom to take a shower. Once I was done, I shaved, cleaned my teeth, and brushed my hair.

My reflection in the mirror showed a 26 year old Caucasian male with dirty blond hair, brown eyes, and a body that was toned from two years on the job. As for my job, I'm a proud member of the New York City Police Department. Making sure my grooming was complete, I nodded and got dressed. I grabbed my keys, wallet, and phone on my way out of my apartment and headed to my car. As I was driving to work, I spent some time thinking about applying to ESU after another year of working in my current job. Before I knew it, I was pulling into the parking lot, finding a spot and getting out of my car and locking the doors. As I entered the building, I passed my fellow brothers and sisters in blue that were either at their desks, talking to each other, or leaving the building. I entered the men's locker room and opened my locker, took off my street clothes and put on my Kevlar vest, uniform, and duty belt. I took my citation book and hat off the top shelf, and closed my locker. While I was locking up, another officer walked in and spotted me.

"Hey Lewis," the officer greeted me while he was grabbing something from his locker nearby.

"Hey Dave, how are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm fine. Hey, did you catch the game last night?" Dave asked me.

"Nah, I decided to get some shut eye so I could get an early start this morning," I explained.

"Too bad, you missed out. So, what are you thinking about? You got that look on your face," Dave asked me.

"Well, I was thinking that once I pass my third year, I was thinking about applying for ESU," I admitted, and Dave grinned at me.

"Fucking hell, officer Lewis Stein is deciding to join the big boys. Outgrown your training wheels, have you?" Dave teased.

"Ha ha, very fucking funny," I said sarcastically as we walked out of the locker room, grabbed our corded radios that were in the charger, and put them into our radio pouches while slipping the microphone onto the shoulder loop. We headed to the briefing room and took our seats with the other officers just as Sergeant Williams (my former training officer) arrived.

"Alright everyone, I hope you all are having a good morning, because it's going to be a busy day. Now, here's what we have on today's docket. Officer Stein, since its on your beat, head over to the abandoned Joey Drew Studios to follow up on a 10-50 N that was called in last night by a passerby. It was probably some idiot teenagers who decided to break into the place because of a dare, but the responding patrol officer didn't find anything," Williams instructed me. "I want you to take a closer look."

"Yes sir," I responded.

A few minutes later, Williams was finished with the morning briefing and everyone left the room to carry out their respective duties. I left the building with a bean-bag shotgun and a Mossberg 590 shotgun. When I got to my patrol car, I put the beanbag gun in the trunk, and secured the Mossberg in the gun rack between the seats, then got in the driver's seat.

"Central be advised, 23-David following up on a 10-50 N at Joey Drew Studios," I said into my dash radio.

"10-4, 23-David," the dispatcher acknowledged while I drove out of the parking lot and headed to the abandoned studio.

While I was driving, I thought about the studio and the history of the building.

My great-grandfather Henry had been one of the co-founders of the Joey Drew studio, and I had researched the company and the building out of curiosity. The Joey Drew studios had opened in 1929 and had produced a well-known cartoon called the Bendy Show that starred a little mischievous demon called Bendy, an anthropomorphic wolf called Boris The Wolf, and and an Angel with horns called Alice Angel. The cartoons were really popular, but as the Great Depression progressed, the studio fell on hard times. Between financial difficulties and creative differences between Joey Drew and my great-grandfather, Henry chose to leave the business in the mid-1930s. The company limped along for several more years but never regained their former success.

In the years before the company's demise, some employees had mysteriously gone missing at different times, and though there were police investigations, no foul play was ever discovered and the cases went cold. In the end, Joey Drew had incurred massive amounts of debt, commissioning strange items and buying parts to create some kind of machine, and was forced to declare bankruptcy and shut the company down permanently. During the last few weeks, several more employees disappeared while in the building, and again, no cause was ever found to explain any of the disappearances.

Most mysterious of all, my great-grandmother Linda once told me that back in 1960, my great-grandfather Henry had gotten a letter from his old friend Joey that told him to come to his house for something important. Henry called Linda a few hours later and said that he was going to the abandoned studio building to check something out, and that was the last time she or anyone else ever heard from him again.

As the years passed, there was talk that the place was haunted because many people passing by the building could hear odd noises coming from within. It was also rumored that anyone who entered the building, never came back out. In any case, due to the instability of the crumbling studio, the building was condemned by the public safety committee, and was boarded up to keep the public from breaking in. Since the death of Joey Drew several years ago, the estate had been tied up in probate while the court attempted to locate any next of kin or descendants, and so the building remained abandoned and shuttered for safety issues.

I was shaken out of my thoughts when I saw the studio, and I pulled up next to the cracked parking lot. As I got out of my cruiser and put my hat on, I examined the building that used to be a place of success.

The place looked like it was falling apart. What was once a fresh and innovative building that held the promise of success, was now nothing more than a crumbling shell of what it used to represent; cracks crept around the outside of the studio, and ivy vines swarmed over the sign of the business that hung high above the entrance door. Most of the paint and plaster had fallen apart, revealing the wooden structure underneath, and what windows that weren't boarded up were covered heavily in dust and grime from decades of extreme neglect. I shook my head sadly at the place that used to make shows for people to enjoy, and I reached for my mike, pushing the button and speaking into my radio.

"Central, 23-David is 10-84 at Joey Drew Studios," I informed while I headed up to the front doors.

"10-4, 23-David," the dispatcher said.

I approached the front doors and when I got close, I heard them unlock. I was instantly on edge since I didn't hear or see anybody.

"Central, 23-David, possible 10-10 inside the building. Be advised," I notified dispatch on my radio.

"10-4, 23-David, use extreme caution," the dispatcher stated as I put my hand on the butt of my Glock 17 generation 4 and cautiously opened the door and entered the building.

From what I could see, the hallway that led into the main room didn't seem to fare any better than the exterior of the building. The hall leading inside held up old posters of the Bendy cartoons that were faded from age and long periods of disuse, and the walls and wooden beams had also aged and fallen apart after decades of neglect. On one side, I could've sworn that I was seeing a black and rubbery looking liquid leaking out from the ceiling. Leaning close and making sure not to touch it, I smelled the liquid and was surprised to discover that it was ink.

 _"What the hell? Why the fuck is there ink leaking down from the ceiling?"_ I thought in confusion as I moved on into the main hall.

The main hall had yellowed papers strewn all over the place, and chairs stacked with random film equipment. A lonely desk sat in a corner with a small cardboard cut-out of the seemingly innocent image of Bendy the dancing demon, barely lit under an artist's lamp that surprisingly remains alight, despite how much neglect the lens had suffered. What unsettled me was that there was an old film projector that was running an endlessly blank loop on an empty screen.

 _"What the hell? Why does this old place still have power? Something feels really wrong,"_ I thought uneasily.

On the wall to my right, a giant set of film reels in the logo for Joey Drew Studios kept spinning, but produced no sound for me to hear. Finally, the walls around me displayed cracks that revealed the wooden structure that was used in the construction of the building, tearing apart slowly from severe lack of repair; some of the cracks even had planks of wood boarded around them like crude bandages that weren't even close to keeping the damage under control.

"Jesus...this place did not age well over the years. Huh, it must've been really impressive back in the day before it closed down and fell apart," I mumbled under my breath.

While I was investigating the main hall, I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching me, even though I didn't see anyone in the room. It was not like anyone (except the prowler) was there to welcome me. It didn't make sense to me that someone would leave an old projector on, since those old things would eventually stop running. As I was still examining the condition of the projector, I stopped short when I saw something in the corner, and I looked up to see that it was a large cut-out of Bendy. It stood alone in the corner, with it's cheesy grin and it's quirky eyes fixed on my location. I didn't know if it was me or this place making me unsettled, but something about that human-sized cardboard portrait sent a chill down my spine, like that thing was purposely watching my every move. I just reassured myself by coming to the conclusion that someone must've put it there to either creep someone out, or because of problems finding spare space to place it in proper storage.

"Fucking thing's making me uneasy...it's like it's watching me...certainly fits this creepy place," I muttered as I backed away and branched off to the hallway on my left.

As I slowly walked down the hallway, I looked to the corner on my left and saw a lone desk tucked away and covered in cobwebs and an overhead light shining down on it. Papers hung around the walls like it's somebody's business, and another large Bendy cutout stared at me with its grin.

"Huh...I wonder who used to work at this desk. Probably an animator who had way too much time on his hands," I mumbled as I saw two drawings on the desk, one of them having a Bendy that was smiling differently, but the word "no" was taped to the drawing.

 _"Seems like someone didn't accept this version of Bendy,"_ I thought as I turned around and entered the large room behind me. The room had several desks for animators, covered with drawings of the little demon, and had an adjoining bathroom, except that the way in was boarded up and there was no door in sight for any possible sense of privacy. With the latter though, I grimaced when I saw a Bendy cutout inside the bathroom, and felt sympathy for the people who would've used that bathroom and probably felt very uncomfortable about "Bendy" watching them in what was supposed to be an area of privacy.

 _"Poor bastards. Looks like the people that worked in this studio knocked out a wall or two after my great-grandfather left. It must've taken a few people to replace him."_ I thought as I turned around and left the room.

Walking past the main room and entering the hallway that led to the right of the studio, I spotted graffiti written in ink that said 'Dreams come true'. Something about the words made me wonder who wrote it, and for what purpose. Was somebody being zealous about accomplishing a big dream? Or was somebody being a little too enthusiastic with whatever it was they were working on before the studio closed down, and the words had ultimately lost their real meaning over time? Well, I am a cop and not a filmmaker, so who knew what went on inside these people's heads back then.

"Mr. Drew, what were your dreams back then?" I couldn't help but mumble out loud.

Not wanting to ponder on it for too long, I opted to keep going and get the prowler and myself out of the building for our safety. Just as I turned away from the graffiti on the wall though, I stopped to notice something hanging up above an archway down another hall. I had no idea what it was at first, so I decided to take a closer look to find out what it is. As I got closer, I read the sign above that said 'Ink Machine'. Ahead of me seemed to be a hallway that led out towards where the sign is directed, compelling me to investigate what it is that's supposed to be there, but a strange schedule on the wall caught my attention. A closer inspection showed the usage of ink that was monitored on a weekly basis. With each week, the amount of ink used escalated over time to the point where one week showed a shocking 423 gallons of ink. Down on the floor, a pipe crossed the open walkway that had a sign on it that said "Watch Your Step."

 _"Holy shit, who the hell needed that much ink?"_ I thought, dumbfounded as I stepped over the pipe and turned around the next corner to find myself facing a railing, beyond which opened a huge room with a large open space in the floor.

Below the balcony I was standing on was a dark, dank abyss that had chains hanging from the ceiling down into the open space below. Around the opening, barrels and crates were scattered about, making a mess of the ground floor. On the balcony where I was standing, I saw a power switch and a generator that had no power to them, having had no means to be activated for decades. Seeing this made me wonder if there was something important down in that large dark hole in the middle of the ground.

 _"Damn, just what the hell were they keeping down here? King Kong?"_ I thought in bewilderment.

Looking around, I saw a large dry cell battery that was laying on a storage shelf and I grabbed it. Looking in a big chest that was on the floor, I found another battery and placed the two batteries into the generator.

"Alright, let's see what the former employees of this place used to keep down here...hope I don't get in trouble," I mumbled as I walked over to the switch and pulled it.

The chains up above started groaning as they started moving and pulling up something enormous. After a minute of the clanking of the chains and the groaning of the machinery from down below, a huge impressive machine rose up from the hole in the floor and the chains stopped, leaving the machine hanging in midair.

"Holy shit..." I trailed off in awe at the incredible sight before me.

The machine was large and bulky, looking like a square, oversized fire hydrant with several mechanical belts on it and pipes that ran into and out of the monstrosity's foundation. Judging from the splatters of ink that were on it, I concluded that this was the Ink Machine. I turned around and left the room, but stopped when I saw a door on the left and the shutter door on the right was open.

"What the fuck? Those weren't open before," I stated uneasily and called out to whoever opened them.

"Hello?! NYPD! Whoever is here, you are trespassing in a dangerous and condemned building! You are to vacate the premises immediately for your own safety!" I announced, but there was no reply.

Keeping my hand on the butt of my service weapon just in case whoever was here was a hopped up tweaker that was twitchy and armed with a knife or gun, I cautiously entered the door on the left and headed down the stairs to find myself inside a break room of some kind. Seeing a hallway at the end of the room that branched off to the left, I slowly walked over to see that the hallway around the corner was completely blocked off by boards, forcing me to go back and head through the open shutter that led to two hallways on the left and right.

 _"God, this place is like a fucking maze,"_ I thought as I went down the left hallway.

Turning around the corner, I saw a table that had a coffee cup and an old tape recorder that had the name Wally Franks on it.

"Huh, I wonder if there's anything on it," I mumbled as I pushed the play button, and a high pitched male voice with a Brooklyn accent (who I assumed was Wally) started speaking.

"At this point, I don't get what Joey's plan is for this company. The animations sure aren't being finished on time anymore, and I certainly don't see why we need this...machine. It's noisy, it's messy, and who needs that much ink anyways? Also, get this, Joey had each one of us donate something from our work stations. We put them on these little pedestals in the break room, to help appease the Gods, Joey said. Keep things going. I think he's lost his mind, but hey, he writes the checks. But I'll tell you what, if one more of these pipes burst, I'm outta here," Wally vowed and the recorder stopped.

"Huh...sounds like the founder of this studio was a little off in the head," I mumbled as I went down the hallway in front of me.

I kept walking and turning around corners until I found myself in what appeared to be in an old screening room. Seeing that it was dark, I took out my flashlight and turned it on, moving the beam around and looking for any sign of the individual that was here. I didn't find anything, so I turned off my flashlight, slipping it back into it's holder and turning back. Passing the tape recorder, I went down the hallway I hadn't checked yet and when I reached another crossroads, a board suddenly fell from the ceiling, scaring the hell out of me and I instinctively unholstered my Glock and aimed at the thing that startled me.

"Fuck! Shit...that scared the hell out of me...Goddamn place is falling apart. Okay, I need to find whoever is in here and get them out before someone gets killed by falling debris," I muttered after I holstered my gun and let out a nervous laugh for acting like a rookie greenhorn.

Taking a few calming deep breaths, I went to walk down the left path when I saw something that made me recoil.

"What the fuck!" I exclaimed in horror and covered my mouth in sheer disgust at what I was seeing.

What I was seeing inside the dimly lit room was the repulsive sight of what appeared to be a cartoonish creature that was strapped to an upright operating table that was used by morticians or surgeons. Approaching cautiously, I entered the room to investigate the nightmarish cadaver of what was once a black anthropomorphic wolf with a tail, pie eyes in the shape of X's, white overalls with pockets, white gloves, and black boots. Upon closer inspection, I could see that its chest had been cut open by some kind of blade and its organs harvested for some unknown purpose. But what made me nervous, is that the body looked fresh, like someone just killed this poor bastard recently, and there was a wrench inside the chest cavity. What wasn't helping the atmosphere of the room was tiny lit candles, and traces of more ink behind the victim, along with ink dripping ceaselessly from a fenced hole set high into the ceiling.

"What the fuck is this shit...what the fuck is going on here? Who the hell did this to you?" I questioned in horror and spoke into my radio, saying, "Central, this is 23-David...I have a DOA at Joey Drew Studios, requesting back up and HAU at my location immediately. Notify CSI."

"10-4," the dispatcher said.

 _"I need to secure the building and make sure not to touch anything that could contaminate any evidence,"_ I thought as I saw more ink graffiti on the wall to my right that said 'who's laughing now?'.

"This is sick..." I trailed off and realized that if the body was fresh, then that meant there was a homicide perp loose in the building who was most likely armed and dangerous.

As I looked at the body, I noticed that it looked familiar and when I saw a poster nearby that showed Boris the Wolf on it, it suddenly hit me.

 _"This is Boris! But...how the fuck is this possible?! Cartoon characters aren't real!"_ I tried to convince myself, but there was no denying that I was staring at the dead body of a cartoon.

I unholstered my service weapon and aimed at the door that was to my left and entered the next room to find myself inside an animator's office. I headed over to the door that was at the far end of the room on the left and left the office to find myself back in the hallway that led to the crime scene. Turning left, I went past the crime scene and into a room on the right, and I saw what was apparently the control room for the Ink Machine. All I could see was a lever to turn on the machine, but there were six pedestals that were set in rows of three and connected to large pipes protruding from the walls, along with six pictures that had images of each pedestal.

"Okay...looks like I would need a wrench, a gear, a book, a Bendy toy, some kind of music, and an ink bottle," I mumbled as I saw the machine also turned on the power, and that there was an indicator that there was low pressure.

I turned around and left the room, only to nearly shoot when I almost crashed into a Bendy cut-out that was smack dab in the hallway.

"Motherfucker! Okay, whoever is here, come out now with your hands above your head!" I called out, but there was nothing.

Grumbling, I went back into the crime scene where one of the items I was looking for was at. Grimacing, I looked around for something to get the wrench out of the body without leaving fingerprints, and I spotted what appeared to be a clean cloth. I used the cloth to grab the wrench and pull it out, then walked back to the room behind me and put the wrench it on its pedestal. The pedestal began to sink with a rumble, and a light shone down where the pedestal had been. Nodding in satisfaction, I left the room to look for the other items.

* * *

After gathering everything I needed (going through a few scares in the process) and turning a valve in the screening room, I placed the items onto the pedestals and pulled the lever. The machine started up and the lights in the room shut off. I took out my flashlight and was navigating through the darkness back to the Ink Machine when I noticed that the entryway into the large room was boarded up.

"What the hell-" I started to say, but I was cut off when a messed up gooey looking Bendy with ink covering the upper half of it's face, a skinny frame, and a clawed hand suddenly lunged at me from behind the boards, trying to swipe at me.

"Fuck!" I exclaimed in terror as I threw myself to the floor and shot once at the monster, making it recoil from the bullet striking it in the face, but it simply grinned and melted into the ink that was coming from everywhere. At that point, I just decided to get the hell out and quickly got up, speaking frantically into my radio.

"Central, 23-David is 10-13! Repeat, 10-13! Need back up to my location ASAP! A shot has been fired!" I exclaimed in terror as the ink was flooding the building.

As the studio was breaking apart and unleashing streams of ink, I frantically moved through the ink to the front door. I didn't know if it was my fear-addled brain, but it almost felt like the ink was trying to grab me and drag me under as I almost made it out. Suddenly, the floor that I was running across near the entrance of the building gave way and I fell several feet down.

"Oh shit!" I screamed until I hit solid ground hard, the impact knocking the breath out of me.

Picking myself up, I groaned when I saw that my uniform and duty belt were covered in ink, and that I was standing knee deep in ink.

"Ah shit...Sarge is going to kill me," I groaned. I saw a valve and trudged through the rubbery substance to reach it. I turned the valve and the ink began to drain out of the room. Now that I had more breathing room, I realized that I was trapped God knows how many feet underground and tried to contact dispatch.

"Central, come in...Central, do you read me," I spoke into the radio, but nothing came through, not even static. I checked the radio and saw that there was a crack, showing that it broke when I landed hard.

 _"Well isn't that just fucking perfect...now I'm trapped down here with a monster that looks like it came from a horror movie, and I can't call for help. Looks like I need to get out the old fashioned way,"_ I thought unhappily.

Looking around, I saw another tape recorder. When I walked over to it, I saw the name Thomas Conner on it. I pressed the play button, and a grumpy, male, gravely voice spoke.

"It's dark and it's cold and it's stuck in behind every single wall now. In some places, I swear this Godforsaken ink is clearly up to my knees! Whoever thought that these crummy pipes could hold up under this kind of strain either knows something I don't, or he's some kind of idiot. But the real worst part about all of this...is them noises the system makes. Like a dying dog on it's last legs. Make no mistake, this place...this...machine...hell, this whole damn thing...it just isn't natural. You can bet, I won't be doing anymore repair jobs for Mr. Joey Drew," Thomas complained and the tape stopped.

Well, it wasn't much to go on, but I could tell from the frustration in the repairman's voice and the other tape by Wally Franks that they were pissed to be working in a place that had daily problems with Joey Drew and what was happening in the studio. And the fact that Thomas had experienced the problem firsthand, it made me dread to think what other problems were going on in the studio back then other than the issue with the ink pressure and the building falling apart.

But that wasn't the only thing that was on my mind-far from it. I had seen that cartoons were as real as flesh and blood, only one had been mutilated, and the other had tried to kill me. I could only theorize that Joey was doing something back then with that ink machine and he had somehow managed to make cartoons into actual people, but something must've gone wrong with the Bendy character and now it had been on a bloodthirsty rampage for who knows how many years. I thought about all the people I looked up in building's history that had gone missing, and I wondered if that monster killed all those people back when it all went to shit, forcing Joey to flee the place and shut it down. Guess this shows what happens when you try to play God.

 _"And now I'm trapped with the fucking thing, great. How the hell am I going to explain what I've seen? Everyone will think I'm crazy and I'll become a joke to the department that will never be taken seriously. On the plus side, I did manage to put in a code 10-13, so now every unit in the area will be coming here to provide backup. Wait, what if the other officers arrive and they encounter that thing?"_ I thought, recalling that I shot the thing in the head and it didn't do shit. I paled when I realized that my fellow officers and even an ESU team would be slaughtered if they tried to fight that thing.

"I can't think about the repercussions, I just need to find a way out of this fucking place," I mumbled as I walked over to an open doorway that was nearby, aiming my Glock to the right and seeing a staircase that led down. Cautiously walking to the stairs and heading down, I saw that even though I had drained the area, there was already serious leakage and damage done from the unseen ink spills somewhere within the deteriorating walls. Seeing ink flooding the next flight of stairs, I turned the valve that was next to me and the ink drained to free the path before me. I walked down the stairs and threw up my hands in disbelief at seeing more ink flooding the bottom of the stairs.

"Are you fucking shitting me? How much ink is in this damn place? This is ridiculous," I questioned to myself, shivering as I recalled the ink trying to grab me and drag me under like a living breathing creature.

I shook my head and headed down the stairs. Looking down the end of the hall and seeing a valve, I waded through the ink that was up to my waist, and I grimaced when I felt the ink trying to grab and pull me under as I turned the valve, causing the black rubbery liquid to drain and freeing a door that was nearby. I slowly opened the door and moved inside while aiming my gun just in case. Not seeing any threats, I holstered my gun while seeing more graffiti that said 'the creator lied to us.'

"Damn, somebody had issues working in this place," I mumbled as I turned and saw the opening that led to the next hallway was completely boarded up, but I spotted an axe on a table and picked it up, swinging it to test how durable it was and I nodded in satisfaction.

 _"This will work. I can't rely on my service weapon since I have a limited amount of ammo, so I need to conserve it,"_ I thought as I walked over to the boards and hacked them down with a few well placed swings. Moving further down the hall and chopping down any boards that were in my way. I walked around a corner to see a door that was boarded up, but a few swings took care of the blockage, and what I saw when I opened the door shocked me.

Inside was a solitary room that was dimly lit by candles arranged within a ritualistic circle, hand drawn by thin paint or ink with a pentagram in the middle of the sinister circle. Surrounding the ritualistic circle were three coffins that had the disgusting stench of rotten corpses coming from them. Two of the coffins were propped up in a slant against the wall while the third one was nestled in it's proper position towards another side of the wall.

"Jesus Christ...what the fuck was going on in this place? Ugh...those coffins...smells like whoever is in them has been dead for decades," I gagged out while covering my nose and mouth.

From what I could see, someone had dabbled heavily into the occult and quite possibly killed more than a few people in this place before it closed down, which explained how people went missing before the studio shut down. Some kind of satanic cult must've operated in this place in secret and killed a lot of people. As I entered the room, a strange feeling came over me that made me nauseous. It was like whatever was in the environment of this room was making me feel sick, and it wasn't the sight of the coffins or the lukewarm air around me.

"Ugh...God...feel like shit..." I barely groaned out while I stumbled to the door across the room.

Just as I walked into the circle, an agonizing pain ripped through my head and I yelled in pain as images of the Ink Machine, a wheelchair, and the messed up version of Bendy appeared in my mind. I dropped the axe and collapsed to the floor and blacked out.

In a few seconds I was out cold, unable to defend myself from anything that was lurking in this place and wanting to kill me.

* * *

A/n Hey guys, looks like it's not going to well for Lewis. Before you say anything, I just wanted to say that there is going to to be a twist at the end of chapter 4, but I'm not revealing anything so it's up to you to come with your own theories as to what the twist is. Before I forget, I just wanted to say that I have no experience in law enforcement at all, so if any police officers are reading this, then I want to apologize if I screwed up for not having my OC follow procedure. Well, if that's all, stay tuned.


	2. The Old Song

Joey Drew Studios, Brooklyn, New York City, June 11, 2018.

I let out a groan as I regained consciousness, and I opened my eyes.

"Ugh...my fucking head...what the hell happened?" I mumbled while my ears were ringing.

As I slowly stood up, I saw the axe propped up on one of the coffins, and I picked it up. While I headed to the boarded up door and started chopping away, I thought about what had just happened and the visions I had seen in my mind.

 _"The Ink Machine, a wheelchair, and that fucked version of Bendy. Why did those images appear? It's like it was a warning of some kind,"_ I thought as I chopped down the last board and went through the door to find myself in a hallway that led to a staircase leading down. Walking down the steps, I entered a section called Utility Shaft 9 and saw a shelf that had a small painting of Bendy, lit candles, bowls with an unknown substance in them, and graffiti that said 'He will set us free'. The whole thing looked like a peace offering for some kind of ritual.

 _"What the hell? Did somebody worship Bendy or something? Looks like someone had lost their fucking mind down here,"_ I thought as I looked to the right and saw two more coffins against a wall.

Wanting to keep moving, I moved into a large room and I spotted a tape recorder to my right that had the name Sammy Lawrence on it. I decided to listen to it, seeking any information that might be helpful. I pushed play and a calm peaceful male voice spoke.

"He appears from the shadows to rain his sweet blessings upon me, the figure of ink that shines in the darkness. I see you my savior, I pray you hear me. Those old songs...yes, I still sing them. For I know you are coming to save me, and I will be swept into your final loving embrace, but love requires sacrifice. Can I get an amen?" Sammy asked, then the tape stopped playing.

"Um...how about fuck no, you crazy bastard," I stated, staring at the recorder warily and feeling disturbed at the man's clearly insane ramblings, wondering what had happened to drive the poor bastard into the deep end.

"I said, can I get an Amen?" Sammy's voice rang out behind me suddenly.

"Shit!" I yelped as I quickly turned around, raising the axe, but I didn't see anyone.

 _"Jesus, I know I heard someone behind me...where the hell did he go, and how did he leave so fast without me hearing any footsteps?"_ I thought in confusion as I lowered the axe and slowly went down the hallway that was in front of me.

As I walked, I thought about how the voice on the tape and the voice that was behind me sounded the same, which didn't seem possible since Sammy would either be in his 90s by now or dead, but from what I've seen in this place, anything could be possible. Passing a large Bendy cut-out that was on top of a pentagram, I went into a hallway that had ankle high ink on the floor, and I shivered. As I moved through the ink, I saw a dark figure wearing a mask that looked like it came from a Bendy cut-out, white overalls with pockets, and black boots. He was carrying a Bendy cut-out and muttering under his breath as he passed by the open doorway.

"Hello?! Identify yourself! I'm a police officer, and I am armed!" I called out to the figure, but the man didn't seem to hear me as he went down to the left and vanished from my line of sight.

I quickly moved through the ink and went through the doorway, taking a left to confront the man, but I only saw a dead end with the cut-out propped up against a pentagram drawn on the wall and a splatter of ink next to a large crack in the wall on my left.

"The hell? Where did he go?" I mumbled in confusion and wondered if I was losing my grip on reality.

Turning around, I walked down the hallway until I saw a closed shutter to my left and a panel that had three blinking lights.

 _"Huh, looks like I need to power up this console before I can open the shutter on my left. There should be switches nearby,"_ I thought as I turned around and headed back to the dead end behind me, seeing shelves on my right with cans of food on them.

I grimaced when I saw that the labels said bacon soup, and I hoped that I didn't get desperate and hungry enough to eat the decades old food that are long past their expiration date. I moved the cans out of the way and saw a switch. I flipped the switch and the blinking light stayed on. Heading back through the ink-filled hallway, I found myself back in the room with the disturbing recorder. There I flipped a switch that was next to a poster hanging on the wall, then I turned around and headed to the coffins. Seeing the last switch, I flipped it and headed back to the closed shutter, and pulled the lever on the console, causing the shutter to slowly open with an ominous creaking and groaning sound. I walked over to a boarded up doorway and chopped a few boards down, but I stopped when I heard what sounded like a person groaning.

"Hello?! Is anyone there?! If you can hear me and you're injured, you don't have to be afraid! I'm with the NYPD, and I'm not here to hurt you!" I reassured whoever was groaning, but there was no answer.

I chopped down the last board, took out my flashlight and entered a large dark room where I saw a huge sign that said "Music Department" and had Sammy's name underneath. Nearby, I saw another tape recorder on a small shelf next to the large sign. I walked over to the recorder and pushed play, instantly hearing a much saner and quite irritated Sammy Lawrence grumbling.

"So first, Joey installs this Goddamn Ink Machine over our heads, then it begins to leak. Three times last month, we couldn't even get out of the department because the fucking ink flooded the stairwell. Joey's solution? An ink pump to drain it periodically. Now I have this ugly Godforsaken pump switch right in my office. People in and out all day. Thanks Joey, just what I needed, more distractions. These Goddamn cartoon songs don't write themselves, you know," Sammy snapped in irritation and the recorder stopped.

From what Sammy was saying on the recorder, he was in charge of the studio's musical department and he was the lead composer, but the musical department was apparently having problems with the Ink Machine that was keeping people from doing their jobs, so Joey installed a pump switch in Sammy's office, leaving Sammy none too happy about it. But what caught my attention, is that Sammy sounded not as mentally unstable on this recorder, which made me wonder what had happened to make him go insane.

 _"I can't keep thinking about what happened here, I need to get the fuck out of this place,"_ I thought in determination and headed to an open doorway that led to a stairway. Shining my flashlight down, I could see pools of ink, blocking the way to the exit door at the bottom of the stairs.

"Of course the way out is blocked. Okay, if I'm gonna get out of here, I need to find a way to drain it. Maybe this ink pump that was mentioned on the recorder can help me," I muttered to myself and pulled a lever to my right, causing the lights in the musical department to turn on and I quipped, "Let there be light."

I walked into the main room and saw gooey puddles of ink everywhere that I could've sworn was breathing. Suddenly, the puddles rose up into shapeless blobs and morphed into some kind of ink humanoids with a pile of black goo connecting to their torsos. They approached me quickly while making the groaning noise that I had heard earlier.

"Holy mother! Stay back, NYPD!" I warned the ink monsters. They didn't comply and swiped at me as they approached, forcing me to jump back. I started hacking at the monsters with the axe, making them melt into puddles again when I killed the abominations. I stood in the middle of the room, breathing heavily, trembling in fear, and trying to comprehend what the hell I had just witnessed.

 _"What the fuck...no seriously, what the fuck did I just witness?!"_ I thought incredulously, trying to come to grips with having just seen harmless puddles of ink shape-shift into monsters that tried to kill me.

I shook it off and walked over to the right hallway and saw stairs leading upstairs and another door to my right. I went through the door on the right and saw that I was in a small room that had barrels and crates stacked up against each other around a pool table, posters of Bendy cartoons on the wall, and a large door,rolled down from the ceiling, like a garage door.

"Heh...what I wouldn't give to take my mind off of this fucking hellhole," I mumbled with a slight chuckle and left the billiard room.

Taking a right, I went up the stairs and found myself in what used to be a projectionist booth that was overlooking a recording studio. Seeing a tape recorder that was on the table next to the film projector, I saw that it had the name, Norman Polk on it. I pushed play and heard an elderly male voice that had a thick southern accent.

"Every day, the same strange thing happens. I'll be up here in my booth, the band will be swinging and suddenly, fuckin' Sammy Lawrence just comes marching in and shuts the whole thing down and tells us all to wait in the hall. Then I hears him. He starts up my projector and he dashes from the projector booth and down to the recording studio like the little devil himself was chasing behind. Few seconds later, the projector turns off, but Sammy, oh no, he don't come out for a long time. This man is weird, crazy weird! Now, I have half a mind to talk to Mr. Drew about all of this horse pucky, I really do. But then again, I have to admit, Mr. Drew's got his own peculiarities," Norman admitted uneasily and the recording stopped playing.

 _"Sounds like everyone thought Mr. Drew was not right in the head, since Norman was a little hesitant to file a complaint against Sammy. Wait, if Sammy was crazy, is he the one who left all these Bendy shrines? Okay, this place is nuts,"_ I thought as I turned around and headed back to the main hall.

Taking the left hallway that branched off into two paths, I took the right path, opened a door, and entered the recording studio. I looked around in awe at the very place where the magic happened and I spotted another tape recorder on the floor. Walking over, I knelt down and picked it up with my only free hand, then set it down on a nearby barrel. I could see the name Susie Campbell. I played the tape and heard a young female voice speaking in excitement.

"It may only be my second month working for Joey Drew, but I can already tell I'm going to love it here! People seem to really enjoy my Alice Angel voice. Sammy says she may be as popular as Bendy one day. These past few weeks I have voiced everything from talking chairs to dancing chickens, but this is the first character I have really felt a connection with. Like she's a part of me. Alice and I, we're going places," Susie stated happily and the recording stopped.

I smiled at hearing the woman sounding so optimistic. The happiness in Susie's voice comforted me in this hellhole. I looked around some more and seeing another closed door rolled down from the ceiling, I backtracked and went down the hallway I had passed earlier. I went down the left hallway that went toward the infirmary, but the stairs were blocked by ink, so I continued back down the hallway until I found myself in a room off the hallway that had a work desk. There, I found a picture representing Bendy's facial expressions, but each different emotion like sad or angry showed Bendy smiling.

"Ugh, creepy," I mumbled as I left the room and arrived at the end of the hall. The door that led to Sammy's office was blocked by a large ink leak that was spraying from a busted pipe.

"Shit, that's a problem," I grumbled until I saw the pump switch through the glass and mumbled, "Okay, if I can just somehow stop the ink flow, I might be able to get into the office."

I looked to my left and saw a recorder that had Wally's name on it, and I played it to see if I could find any useful information on it.

"So I go to get my dust pan from the hall closet the other day and guess what? I can't find my damn keys! It's like they disappeared into thin air or something. All I can think of is that they must've fallen into one of the garbage cans as I was making my rounds last week. I just hope nobody tells Sammy. Because if he finds out I've lost my keys again, I'm outta here," Wally said and the tape stopped.

"Seriously Wally? Why the hell would you record yourself saying this and put the tape next to the office of the one person you didn't want finding out, you fucking idiot?" I questioned in disbelief at the stupidity I just heard.

I recalled seeing something glint in one of the trashcans at the front lobby and I backtracked until I found the keys in a trashcan placed below an Alice Angel poster. I headed back to Sammy's office and unlocked the closet that was to the right of the office, opening the door to find a recording from Sammy and I played it.

"Every artistic person needs a sanctuary. Joey Drew has his and I have mine. To enter, you need to only know my favorite song: The bass fiddle sings with deep articulation, the piano delicately calls, the piano returns in graceful harmony, the bass fiddle returns and sings aloud. Sing my song and my sanctuary will open to you," Sammy instructed and the tape stopped.

Hearing that made me recall what Norman said, and I went back to the projection booth. I turned on the projector which showed a brief snippet of a Bendy cartoon called 'Tombstone Picnic', and I quickly headed to the recording studio, and strummed a note on the bass, ran over to play the piano twice, and back over to play the bass again. The projector turned off and the rolling door retracted upward, opening and freeing the path that led to Sammy's so-called sanctuary. I walked over and entered the hallway, turning right and seeing Sammy's sanctuary. Inside was the ink flow valve, but there was also a desk, a messy toilet for some reason, another pentagram on the floor, and a rhyme on the wall that said 'Sing a happy song, whistle a merry tune. Wait for his arrival, he's coming very soon'.

 _"What in the name of...okay, definitely not the sign of a stable mind,"_ I thought as walked over to the valve and turned it.

"Alright, one down," I said.

I left the room and walked down the hallway until a Bendy cut-out popped out from around the corner for a brief moment, scaring the hell out of me since I didn't expect it.

"Fuck!" I yelped and then I stormed over to the corner and glared at the Bendy cut-out that seemed to be smirking at me.

"Okay! Whoever the hell is doing that, fuck...you buddy!" I emphasized, pissed that someone was screwing with me. As I looked away, I saw a familiar dark figure with a Bendy mask, white overalls with pockets, and black boots.

"Hey! Can you hear me?! Police! Identify yourself!" I shouted to the person just as blobs of ink oozed over and formed into more ink monsters.

I was hit in the left arm by one of the monsters before I could react, sending me into a wall and making me yell in pain as I unsteadily stood up, and I retaliated by killing the offender with a blow to the head and hacking the other monsters until I was alone. I hissed in pain as I looked at the injury, seeing a gash that was covered in ink and I tried to look for something until I spotted a clean cloth and gently dabbled the ink away until I tore the dirty part of the cloth off and wrapped the clean part around the injury.

"Argh...motherfucker...I've just about had enough of this..." I groaned as I tied the cloth and hoped that I didn't get an infection, since that was last thing I would ever want to get in this place.

I backtracked to the infirmary, seeing that the stairs were clear of ink and I saw a sign above the hallway that said 'Notice: Anyone found faking illness will be docked a full week's wages. Not sick, not paid'.

"Damn Mr. Drew, slave driver much?" I quipped rhetorically as I walked down the stairs. As soon as I entered the room, an ink monster came out of nowhere, jumped me, and sent me crashing to the floor with it on top on me. I struggled with the monster as it pinned me to the floor and I started to notice that it was beginning to melt all over me, and it felt like warm tar was beginning to cover me. I knew that if I didn't do something, the thing would drown me.

"Guh...get the...fuck...off me..." I grunted as I managed to unholster my Glock and shot the monster on top of me three times, making it ooze all over me. I frantically got up, wiping the ink off me as best I could until I managed to get most of it off, but a little bit of it still stuck to me like glue.

"Arghhhhh...oh my God...it's in my fucking mouth...blugh...that is nasty," I gagged as I was trying to spit out the foul tasting substance.

Once I managed to get out most of the horrible taste in my mouth, I holstered my gun and picked up the axe, moving to the the pipe that would drain the ink, but I felt frustration when I saw that there was no valve.

"Ah shit, I do not need this right now," I grumbled until I saw lever that would open a pathway somewhere and I pulled it.

After hearing the sound of a door rolling up and opening, I turned around and went through an open doorway that led downstairs until I found myself in the sewers.

 _"Fucking perfect. Not only do I smell and look like I took an ink bath, but now I'm going to literally smell like shit on top of it,"_ I thought in displeasure while I glared at graffiti that said 'We're all sinners down here'.

Looking to my right, I saw a large sewage pipe that not only led God knows where, it was bringing in ink from somewhere. I heard a moan to my left, and I looked to see an ink monster sitting behind wooden boards. The monster was strangely wearing a yellow derby hat and I perked up when I saw that it had a valve. The monster noticed me but it didn't attack, which made me think that either the boards were blocking its path, or it was simply afraid of me. I hesitantly walked over to the monster, ready to retaliate if it turned out to be hostile, but the monster melted and merged into the lake of ink, taking the valve with it as I approached the boards.

"Huh, it didn't attack me...maybe these things are more afraid of me then I am of them, and they're only attacking me because they see me as a threat," I theorized as I chopped the boards down and continued down the sewers.

I kept moving through the ink until I spotted graffiti that said 'The sheep will come to slaughter', causing me to shake my head and I kept moving until I saw a workstation to my right that had a tape recorder and a black and white picture of a man that was wearing a derby hat. I walked over to the recorder that had the name Jack Fain on it and pressed play, causing a muffled male voice to speak.

"I love the quiet, and that's hard to come by in these busy times. And yeah, sure. It may stink like Satan's asshole down here, but it's just perfect for an old lyricist like me. Sammy's songs always got some bounce, but if I didn't get away once in a while, they'd never have any words to go with them. So I'll keep my mind a-singin' and uh, my nose closed," Jack stated and the tape stopped.

I recalled that the ink monster was wearing the same derby hat that Jack had on in the picture, making me realize that Jack and the ink monster were one in the same.

 _"Jack was somehow transformed into that thing...how the hell is this possible? Did the Ink Machine do this?"_ I thought in wonder as I continued down the sewers until I found myself in a section of the sewer that had two engines, and the transformed Jack Fain who was standing in front of a wooden box that was sitting on a platform supported by chains in front of the graffiti 'Sing with me'.

I slowly approached the gooey blob and stopped a few feet away, making myself look as none threatening as possible by raising my hands. From what I could tell, it didn't seem to want to attack me, and I'd rather avoid any unnecessary killing if I could help it.

"H-hello? Jack Fain? May I have that valve?" I inquired to the gooey creature, causing it to quickly look at me. Seeing that it was beginning to melt away again, I tried to reason with it, "Whoa, it's okay. I just need to stop the ink flow in order to get out of here. See my uniform and duty belt? I'm a police officer and I'm not going to hurt you, I just want the valve so I can get out of this place."

Jack dipped up and down like he was breathing, looked at the very thing I need to help me escape, and he tossed it at me. The valve hit the inky ground in front of me, and I picked it up as I smiled gratefully at the former human.

"Thanks Jack, nice hat by the way," I complimented the gooey creature while I tipped my hat at him.

Jack's body rippled in response as I turned around and backtracked to the infirmary. I headed to the pipe and placed the valve in it's correct place, turning the valve and hearing the ink stop flowing.

"Okay, Sammy's office should be free to access now," I said and left the infirmary.

After backtracking, I found myself at Sammy's office and went through the door that was clear. Examining the area, I found blueprints that showed the Ink Machine and turned on the radio that played upbeat classical music. I spotted graffiti that said 'It's time to believe', but I ignored it as I walked over to the pump switch and pulled it, feeling relief when I heard ink was being drained.

 _"Thank God...now I can finally escape this fucked up house of horrors,"_ I thought as I left the office and headed to the exit.

Suddenly, something clubbed me hard across the back of my head, and I dropped to the ground in a heap and rolled over onto my back dizzily. As I was starting to black out, I saw my offender, who was the dark figure I had seen many times. The figure was holding a metal dust pan while leering down at me through his smudged Bendy mask.

"Rest your head, it's time for bed," the man soothed in a dark and sinister voice as I passed out.

* * *

I let out a groan as I was regaining consciousness to see that I was tied up to a wooden pillar and the mysterious man was right in front of me, holding my axe. From hearing the man on the tape a few times and in person, there was no doubt that this was somehow Sammy Lawrence himself. I looked to my right and yelped in horror when I saw a skeleton on the floor that had tattered clothes on and an old leather wallet next to it.

"There we go now, nice and tight. We wouldn't want our sheep roaming away now, would we? No, we wouldn't. I must admit, I am honored you came all the way down here to visit me. It almost makes what I'm about to do seem cruel, but the believers must honor their savior. I must have him notice me. Wait...you look familiar to me...that face," Sammy mumbled in confusion as he leaned close to get a better look at me.

"Listen buddy, I'm a police officer. Just let me go. You are already in trouble for assaulting a police officer and battery, so you'll get off easy. But if you kill me, you will be looking at the death penalty, and that is if my fellow brothers and sisters in blue won't shoot first and ask questions later-" I tried to reason, but I was cut off.

"Not now, for our Lord is calling to us, my little sheep. The time of sacrifice is at hand! And then, I will finally be freed from this...prison. This inky, dark...abyss I call a body," Sammy spat bitterly as he looked at his arms, and to my horror, I saw that his body was completely made of ink.

"Oh shit. Let me go you crazy fucker! Don't do this," I pleaded to the deranged lunatic in front of me, but Sammy held up a hand while he was propping up the ax nearby and he returned.

"Shhhhhh! Quiet! Listen!" Sammy hushed me and I heard thumping coming from above the ceiling and Sammy continued, "I can hear him, crawling above. Crawling! Let us begin, the ritual must be completed! Soon he will hear me, he will set us free!"

With that declaration, Sammy went to the room on my left and went through the door until I heard him speaking on the loudspeakers around me.

"Sheep, sheep, sheep, it's time for sleep. Rest your head, it's time for bed. In the morning, you may wake. Or in the morning, you'll be dead," Sammy started while I was struggling to get the rope off me.

"Fuck! Come on!" I exclaimed while I was struggling until I saw the vertical roller door at the end of the room in front of me open, making me struggle even harder in sheer terror.

"Hear me, Bendy! Arise and claim my offering! Free me, I beg you! I summon you, ink demon! Show your face and take this tender sheep!" Sammy demanded psychotically.

Suddenly, I heard a noise behind me and something untied me, freeing me and I immediately ran over and grabbed the ax just as Sammy started to sound panicked.

"No! My lord, stay back! I am your prophet! I am your aaaaaahhhh!" Sammy screamed out in agony until the speakers shut off with a screech.

I turned around to see who freed me, and I was surprised when I saw Jack near where I was tied up.

"Jack? Did you free me?" I questioned, and Jack let out a groan, making me add, "I'll take that as a yes."

Jack gurgled and crawled to me until I turned around and saw ink blobs oozing over and forming into more monsters.

"Shit," I stated as I held the ax and charged at the monsters.

While I was taking care of half of the monsters, Jack was taking care of the other half until we were alone. Once I finished the last one, I let out a deep breath and looked at Jack, whose body rippled when he came over.

"Thanks for saving my ass, Jack. Let's get the hell out of here," I stated, and Jack melted into a blob and oozed away.

I looked at the place where Jack used to be and I spotted the skeleton that was laying on the floor, prompting me to walk over and kneel down in front of the body.

"Poor bastard, I wonder who you used to be," I mumbled as I saw the wallet and what I saw when I opened it to check for I'D made me gasp and almost cry.

I saw an old driver's license that showed a man who held a resemblance to me and his name said Henry Stein on it.

"Oh fuck...you're my missing great-grandfather. This explains why you never came back and why nobody found you after all these years. You died in this fucking place..." I whimpered in despair.

A few tears went down my cheeks as I stood up and saw a white sheet that was nearby and I grabbed it, covering my deceased great-grandfather and I looked down at the poor soul.

"I will get out of here and I will make sure you and everyone else that died down here will get a proper burial," I vowed as I turned away from the awful sight.

Shaking my head, I went down the previously closed hallway and chopped down boards until my ax broke.

"Well, isn't that just fucking great," I muttered irritably as I unholstered my Glock and took out my flashlight, crossing my wrists so that I could see while aiming.

I saw an exit door at the end of the hallway, but I didn't care about the ink that had flooded the floor because I just wanted to go home. When I approached the door, a large shapeless blob formed up in front of me until it took the shape of the Bendy monster, who roared at me and started limping at me quickly. Knowing that my gun was useless, I took off down the other hallway on my left as tendrils of ink were forming on the walls. I ducked when Bendy tried to grab me with his gloved hand, and I kept running until I spotted an open doorway at the end of the hall. I ran into the room, frantically shut the door, and barred it with a board. I aimed at the door as Bendy tried to break the door down, but he eventually stopped and I heard him limp away while letting out an inhuman moan. I breathed heavily while I put my flashlight away and rested my hands on my knees, feeling exhausted and my sanity draining from constant horrors. After I regained my breath, I turned around to see another door and I carefully entered a hallway that led to a lift while aiming my Glock. Just when I almost reached the corner, I heard a noise and saw a can of bacon soup rolling into my line of sight. I saw a shadow darting behind the wall and I heard the nervous whimper of some animal.

"Hello? Whoever is there, come out slowly with your hands above your head! I'm a police officer and I'm trained to respond to deadly and aggressive actions with lethal force!" I warned sternly while keeping my gun trained at the corner, making the figure let out another whimper and I heard the sounds of footsteps.

My eyes widened in shock when a tall familiar black anthropomorphic wolf with a tail, white overall with pockets, and white gloves came out from around the corner slowly while nervously rubbing his hands together, his ears flattened back, and his tail tucked between his legs as the wolf stared at me timidly.

"Boris? You...you're alive!" I stammered in disbelief as I lowered my gun and holstered it.

Boris waved shyly at me while I was trying to understand how he was still alive since I saw his dead body upstairs. At that moment, I needed to show that I wasn't a threat and gain the wolf's trust.

"Hey Boris, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you," I said gently as I held up my hands to show I was friendly.

Boris walked over hesitantly and I smiled as he stood in front of me and I carefully scratched his head, making Boris smile softly as his tail started wagging happily.

"There we go. See, I'm not a monster," I reassured and asked, "Boris, do you have anywhere safe I could stay?"

Boris perked up and nodded while grabbing one of my arms and leading me to a safe house that was nearby. When we arrived, he showed me around and left me in the bathroom to get the ink off me. Then Boris and I played some card games and ate some bacon soup, which was surprisingly tasty for being way past it's expiration date. By the end of the night, Boris had taken me to a place where I could sleep, and after I took off my duty belt, short sleeved uniform shirt, Kevlar vest, shoes, and hat, I was out like a light as soon as I lay down on the cot.


	3. Rise And Fall

_Location unknown, 1932._

 _I heard my alarm clock ringing and smashed it with a mallet as I slowly got up out of bed and yawned._

 _"Yep, sure is a beautiful morning today," I commented as I looked out the window._

 _I went over to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and washed my fur until I looked at myself in the mirror, seeing a wolf staring back at me._

 _"Whelp Boris, let's see if a walk can wake me up," I remarked as I put on my gloves, overalls, and boots on._

 _I left my house and started whistling 'Shave and a haircut' until I found myself in a graveyard, and I perked up when I saw a picnic basket full of food that was on the ground._

 _"Well shucks...food? For me? Don't mind if I do," I stated happily and I sat down on the blanket that was next to the basket._

 _I took out a sandwich and started eating, enjoying how delicious it was, but I could've sworn someone was tapping my shoulder. I grabbed the blanket and used it as a napkin, not paying attention to the sound of a crash and someone tapping my shoulder again. Suddenly, I heard the sound of a bottle being shaken, and I looked to see Bendy aiming a soda bottle at me until I was knocked to the ground by being sprayed in the muzzle, accidentally sending the basket into the air. I felt enraged at being pranked by the little devil, and I quickly stood up, raising my arms and snarling at Bendy, who was rolling around on the ground in laughter. Bendy stopped laughing when he saw how angry I was and he took off running._

 _"Bendy! Ya, little twerp! Get back here so I can teach ya a lesson, ya stinking varmint!" I shouted in fury, then the basket landed onto my head, making me stumble as food hit the ground._

 _When I saw the sandwich on the ground, my anger disappeared and I reached around until I grabbed the sandwich, and I started eating again._

* * *

Joey Drew Studios, Brooklyn, New York City, June 13, 2018.

I gasped awake when I heard music playing and the sound of ticking. I sat up quickly, looking around and I saw that I was in the room that Boris and I were sharing, and I let out a sigh of relief.

 _"Just a dream. What the hell? Why the fuck did I dream that I was Boris? It felt so real,"_ I thought as I stood up and put on my shoes, Kevlar vest, uniform shirt, duty belt, and hat.

The room I was in had a 'Sheep Songs' poster, a footlocker, a hammock that Boris owns, and a clock that looked like Bendy. From what the clock said, it was midnight, and it reminded me that I had been trapped in this place for two days now. I concluded that I have probably been declared missing by now, and if my backup had been attacked by the ink demon, ESU will have been called onto the scene set up a perimeter for investigation. But then I also remembered that I needed to get out of this place as soon as possible. I left the bedroom and entered the bathroom on the left. After I was done using the only toilet that works, I washed my hands and looked at myself in the mirror. My face had a few tiny cuts that I had gotten from those ink monsters (or Searchers as Boris would call them), I had a noticeable five o'clock shadow, I had dark bags under my bloodshot eyes, and when I took off my hat, I saw my hair was a little disheveled.

"Ugh...Christ, I look like hell," I mumbled as I finished washing up, and put on my hat as I was leaving the bathroom.

I went down the hallway, passing the clothes on the clothesline, and entered the kitchen/living room where Boris was sitting next to a table, nodding his head and tapping his foot to the music that was playing on the radio. Boris saw me and he waved while showing me his trademark smile.

"Mornin' Lewis," Boris greeted as I was approaching.

"Morning Boris, you wouldn't happen to have coffee, would you?" I asked groggily.

"I don't, sorry," Boris apologized sheepishly.

"Great...guess I'm gonna have to push through it," I grumbled.

I took out my smartphone so I could see if I have a signal, but I cursed under my breath when I saw that there was no signal.

"Damn...so much for calling for help. Shouldn't surprise me, since I'm God knows how many miles underground," I grumbled irritably while Boris stared at my phone curiously.

"Lewis, what is that doohickey? I've never seen anything like it," Boris asked in confusion, and I realized that Boris has never been outside for decades, so he would have no idea of the changes in technology.

"What? This? That's right, you've never seen a smartphone before since you've never been outside. Come over so I can show you," I said as I sat down, prompting Boris to lean over to see better.

"If ya don't mind me asking Lewis, but what year is it? Cause I've been down here since the 1940s," Boris inquired.

"1940s? Well, this is going to be a shock, but it's 2018," I explained, causing Boris to recoil in disbelief.

"2018?! It's been that long?! Well tarnation, guess that explains why Y'all are dressed so differently and how far technology seems to have evolved. So, what is that...smartphone ya called it?" Boris asked, gesturing at my phone.

"Well, on this little thing you can call, text, play games, send and receive email, use a camera, and all sorts of other things," I explained.

"So, can I see this camera? What is this...text y'all are talking about? And email too?" Boris questioned in confusion.

I began to show Boris what texting and emailing was, as well as some social media accounts and games I had on my phone. After showing Boris how to call someone on my phone, I showed the camera last.

"Smile!" I said gleefully as I held up the phone and took his picture, showing it to him and continuing, "Congratulations Boris, you just took your first selfie."

"Well I'll be, this is amazing...do you think ya can tell me what else has changed over the years?" Boris asked in awe.

"Well, it's hard to explain how much has changed, so you just need to see it in order to believe it," I stated as I stood up. As nice as it was to have company and stay in a safe house to get some breathing room, I wanted to get out of this place as fast as possible.

I walked over to the metal entrance door of the safe house and saw that the lever was missing, which made me recall that Boris once mentioned that the lever was removable.

 _"That sneaky bastard,"_ I thought in realization as I looked back at Boris, who was staring at me with this completely innocent expression on his muzzle, and I walked over to confront him.

"Hey buddy, you wouldn't have happened to see where the lever to the door went, did you? Or are you holding it hostage until I make you something to eat?" I questioned with a knowing smirk while putting my hands on my duty belt.

"Maybe," Boris said mischievously as he shot me a cheeky grin.

"I thought so...okay, let's see what I can find," I said, rolling my eyes humorously.

Remembering from the earlier cartoons that I used to watch when I was a kid, Boris was a feed me now and I'll help later type of person who was rather gluttonous. I knew that if I wanted the lever, I would have to do something for Boris first, which was making him some food to satisfy his insatiable hunger.

Moving throughout the area, I found a can of bacon soup on a barrel, a shelf, and a footlocker. I returned, opened all three cans and put the soup in the pot on the stove and heated it up. Once the soup was fully cooked, I poured the hot liquid into two bowls and put them down on the table.

"Here you go Boris," I said as I sat down and started eating.

Boris nodded gratefully as he pulled up a toolbox that was sitting on the floor and he placed it on the table before lapping up the soup like a dog. Once we were fully fed, I opened the toolbox, pulled out the lever, and placed it back onto the console. I pulled the lever and the door opened up, prompting me to unholster my Glock and aim down the hallway just as Boris quickly stood up.

"Lewis? What in Sam Hill are ya doing?" Boris questioned in confusion and slight disbelief.

"I'm leaving, Boris," I stated bluntly, which caused the cartoon wolf to amazingly do a wild take by literally growing his eyes out into the shape of dinner plates, and he started staring at me like I had lost my mind.

"No offense Lewis, but do ya not have your head screwed on right?! Going out there is suicide! You have a place here that's safe!" Boris tried to reason with me.

"Look, Boris, I appreciate your concern, but I can't stay in this fucking place. I have a life outside these walls, with a job, friends, and family that are looking for me right now. If it was you that was in my place, wouldn't you do the same and try to escape?" I suggested, and Boris looked down hesitantly.

"You have a point Lewis but...I ain't so sure about this..." Boris trailed off nervously.

"How about this. You come with me and that way we'll watch each other's backs. How does that sound?" I offered, and Boris perked up.

"Why golly, that sure sounds fair. Sure, I'll come with," Boris agreed.

"Then it's settled, let's see what's out there. Stay behind me and don't wander off," I instructed, and Boris nodded.

"Got it," Boris stated as he gave me a thumbs up, making me shake my head and smile at his goofiness.

Leaving the safe house was probably not a good idea, but I needed to take the risk if I wanted to get out of this house of horrors. As Boris and I walked down the hallway, I caught sight of what appeared to be an outhouse-like building with a sign that said 'Little Miracle Station' on the top of the door.

"Little Miracle Station? Boris, since you've been down here for a while, do you think you can tell me what this is used for?" I asked.

"I have no idea," Boris replied with a shrug.

Not wanting to stay in one place for too long, Boris and I went around the corner and we stopped when we saw the doorway at the end had led into a hallway that was pitch black.

"Well, shit, looks like we need some light...hello," I said curiously when I saw what appeared to be a large heavy duty flashlight that was on the table next to me and Boris. I picked up the flashlight and handed it to Boris.

"Here Boris, you take this. I've got my own light," I stated as I took out my flashlight and we started to enter the hallway slowly.

We walked cautiously through the dark hallway with our flashlights, revealing some functioning gears and machinery all around. The machinery produced steam as all the pipes and tech still worked, even after so many years. After moving a few feet ahead, there was suddenly the sound of running footsteps coming from above us, making us stop dead in our tracks. I aimed my flashlight and Glock at the ceiling just as Boris let out a slight yelp and grabbed onto me in a tight protective embrace, making me almost lose my balance but I wasn't paying attention to it.

"Did you hear that?" I asked quietly, feeling tense.

Boris didn't say anything and only shivered in response as he nodded nervously.

"Yeah...me too. Okay, whatever made that noise might not be friendly, so let's get out of the area as fast as possible," I stated as we pressed on with Boris still clinging to my back.

I was lucky that Boris wasn't all that heavy, otherwise, we would be screwed if a searcher were to show up out of nowhere. After a few more seconds of navigating through the dark hallway, we found ourselves in a room that had a large metal door that was closed.

"Shit...another fucking dead end. I'm not seeing another way through. Do you have any ideas, Boris?" I asked the cartoon wolf, who looked around until he spotted a vent that was near us.

"I'll crawl through this here vent and see if I can get those doors open. Hold on," Boris told me as he went over to the vent.

Boris removed the cover of the vent and crawled through, leaving me alone. After I waited for a while, the doors finally opened and I went down the long hallway, where there was a large Bendy head on the wall up ahead. Upon coming closer, I saw that there were two paths, one that went to the right and one to the left. I took the left path to find myself in a large room that took me off guard. The room I was in was a large merchandise room that was full of toys and plushies of characters in various sizes. Just above the front desk, there was a large sign that said 'Heavenly Toys' with a waterfall of ink running down behind it and a graffiti message that said 'Dreams come true'.

"Holy shit...this is the entrance to a toy factory. Christ, how big is this damn place?" I wondered quietly as I looked around in awe and put my flashlight away.

Shaking my head, I went up the steps that led behind the front desk and entered a room full of more toys and machinery, and I groaned slightly when I saw that the door I needed to go through was blocked by shelves that were attached to an overhead track.

"Of course there's something blocking the door, there's always something blocking the fucking door. Okay, think Lewis, there has to be a way through," I sighed as I rubbed my eyes.

Looking at a gap in the shelves, I could see a small bowl with an ink blot that was in the shape of Bendy and another recorder that had the name Shawn Flynn on it. I pressed play and a high pitched Irish accented male voice started complaining.

"I don't be seein' what the big deal is! So what if I went and painted some of those Bendy dolls with a crooked smile? That's sure as hell no reason for Mr. Drew to be flyin' off the handle at me. And if that arsehole really wants to be so helpful, he could be tellin' me what I'm to be doin' with this warehouse I've got full of that angel whatchamacallit. Not a scrap of that mess be a-sellin'! Probably have to melt it all down to be rid of it all!" Shawn declared as the tape stopped.

"Damn...sounds like Joey Drew was a real dick back then. Okay, need to find a way to get these shelves out of the way," I muttered as I looked around until I saw two cables that went out back the way I came from.

I followed the cables until I saw that one led to a punch-card stand and the other went to a lever. I went over to the lever and pulled it, going back to the room I had left and throwing my hands up when I saw toys jamming the belt wheels that moved the shelves.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! Seriously?! Great, let's just add this to my list of fucked up problems that keeps getting bigger while I'm in this hellhole!" I roared out in frustration and fury.

I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down because I needed to keep calm and not lose my shit since it would only be a waste of energy and it would get me killed by God knows what that could be lurking nearby.

"Shit Lewis...you are one of New York's finest...get a fucking grip for Christ's sake," I scolded to myself quietly as I went to remove the toys that were jamming the gears.

Once I was done with that, I went back to the lever and pulled it, causing the shelf that was blocking the way to move and open the path before me. The next room I stepped into had a room ahead with a glass window and 'she's quite a gal' sign that was above it, surrounded by television sets. Not only that, but there was an Alice Angel cutout on my left and a shelf of Alice Angel plushy dolls on my right.

"What the hell is this place?" I muttered in confusion at the strange sight before me.

Before I could react, the lights suddenly shut off and left me in darkness, leaving nothing more than a flickering light from the sign as I aimed my gun around frantically. Then the TVs turned on to show Alice heads on the screen before the music started to play and a song advertisement sung by Alice Angel herself played over the speakers.

"~I'm the cutest little angel sent from above and I know how to swing. I got a bright little halo and I'm filled with love, I'm Alice Angel! I'm the hit of the party, I'm the belle of the ball, I'm the toast of every town. Just one little dance and I'll warm your heart, I'm Alice Angel! I ain't nobody and I'm a happy dish, and boy can this girl sing. This gal can grant your every wish~"

In a normal environment I would've been okay with listening to this song but due to the darkness, I was currently on edge and feeling very creeped out by what was happening. Suddenly, the light inside the room in front of me turned on and I aimed at the room just as a feminine inky figure came out of nowhere and pressed against the glass, making me yelp as I jumped back in alarm.

 **"I'm Alice Angel! Noooooo!"** the woman screamed in frustration as she banged on the glass and roared in fury, all the lights and TV screens shutting off abruptly, leaving the room completely dark. I heard the sound of glass shattering and I cried out in panic as I fired three shots at the room in front of me, the muzzle flashes lighting up the room for a second until it went dark again as the woman's screams of rage turned into chuckles and it went completely silent, which didn't make me feel any better.

 **"I see you there, a new fly in my endless web. Come along now, let's see if you're worthy to walk with angels,"** the woman cooed in an eerie echoey tone.

The lights came back on, showing a hole in the window and three bullet holes on the door but the woman was nowhere to be found, which indicated that she had escaped and could be anywhere, a thought that made me quite uneasy. I barely had time to catch a glimpse before the lights went out, but I managed to get a good look at her face. Her horrible half deformed face made it difficult to tell if she was either an angel or demon.

Luckily for me, there was a path on my left that was open to me. I walked down the hallway, keeping my gun raised just in case Alice tried to jump me. Eventually, I wound up at a crossroads with two signs that pointed in different directions. The left sign said 'demon' and the right sign said 'angel'. I thought hard about my options. If I took the demon path, I may or may not run into "Bendy" again. But if I took the angel path, there could be a chance I might be safe...ish. The demon path had a mess of ink everywhere so that didn't seem appealing, but it might not hurt to take a look. As I entered the demon path, there was ink everywhere that was oozing from the ceiling and walls like viscous tar and forming an ink pool. As I moved through the rubbery black goo, I saw a recorder that was propped up on a chair and I was surprised to see that the recorder had the name Joey Drew on it.

"Huh...let's see what the big man himself has to say," I muttered as I started the recorder, and a joyful western accented male voice spoke.

"There's nothing wrong with dreaming! Wishing for the impossible is just human nature. That's how I got started. Just a pencil and a dream. We all want everything without having to lift a finger. They say you just have to believe. Belief can make you succeed. Belief can make you rich. Belief can make you powerful. Why, with enough belief, you can even cheat death itself. Now that is a beautiful and positively silly thought," Joey stated with a slight chuckle as the tape stopped.

"...What the fuck? Okay, not only was Mr. Drew a complete dick to his employees and that he was mentally unstable, but he's also arrogant on top of things. Look around asshole, look where your so-called dreams wound up," I grumbled under my breath as I turned around and went out the way I came.

I took the angel path while I was leaving inky footprints behind and saw a recorder from Susie that was laying on a couch. I started the recorder and Susie sounded heartbroken.

"Everything feels like it's coming apart! When I walked into the recording booth today, Sammy was there with that...Allison. Apparently, I didn't get the memo, Alice Angel will now be voiced by Miss Allison Pendle. A part of me died when he said that. There's gotta be a way to fix this!" Susie bawled as the tape stopped and I felt bad for Susie.

 _"Ouch...poor Susie, finding out you've been replaced in such a way,"_ I thought sympathetically as I went back and crossed through the demon path.

I went through a door at the end of the ink filled room and shined my flashlight as I walked down a dark hallway. I eventually went through a door and put my flashlight away just as a Bendy cutout popped out from around a corner and startled me.

"Fuck!" I yelped as the cutout ducked back around the corner, and I stormed around the corner to see Boris snickering.

"Boris! Don't ever fucking do that! You scared the everloving shit out of me!" I scolded him harshly and Boris recoiled at the hostile tone.

"Whoa Lewis, I was just trying to lighten the mood! Ya don't need to get so hot at me," Boris reasoned and I took a deep breath to calm myself down before I said something that I would regret.

"Sorry Boris...I didn't mean to snap at you like that...its just that I'm really on edge and twitchy enough to shoot at even the smallest thing," I explained while I took my hat off and ran a hand through my disheveled hair after I holstered my gun, and I put my hat back on as I asked, "Okay, I don't suppose that you found anything that can be used as a weapon?"

"Well...I did find this, but I don't know if it'll help any," Boris told me as he showed me a pipe that had the word Gent on it.

"You keep it, Boris, you need something to protect yourself. I got my baton just in case," I told the cartoon wolf and he flinched.

"What...but I ain't no fighter! I get scared too easily!" Boris exclaimed frantically as his heart comically beat out of his chest, and I grabbed his shoulders.

"Boris! It's okay! Look, I know you're scared, but you need something to protect yourself. Quite frankly, I'm surprised you lasted down here for so many years without fighting anything. Listen, I'll be with you every step of the way so as long as we keep calm and work together, we'll survive this fucking nightmare, alright?" I reassured Boris, who calmed down and nodded.

"Ya have a point, Lewis. Okay...I'll use this, but I ain't comfortable about it," Boris agreed reluctantly.

"Hey, it's okay if you don't like it, it's just a necessary evil to stay alive," I told him as I pulled out my gun and we went through the door in front of us.

We went through the room that was filled with ink splatters and toys until we entered the next room and saw a large metal door that was closed. I looked in front of us and I saw a control panel that seemed to be connected to the metal door. The panel was blinking with two lights that had the letters A and B under them and one of the levers was next to a Bendy statue.

"Okay, in order to open this door, we need to throw two levers at once. Boris, you take the lever here and I'll go find the other one," I instructed and Boris nodded.

"Right," Boris agreed as he stood next to the lever.

Like before, I followed the cables leading down the hallway and I turned around a corner and kept walking until I found the lever on the left that was next to a poster depicting three characters called The Butcher Gang, three villains I remember watching on the Bendy cartoons when I was a kid. There was Charley, the character that resembled a chimpanzee. Barley, a human sailor, and Edgar, who was a spider.

As I was going over to the lever, a mutilated ink creature that looked like Charley came tearing through the poster and tried to swing a pipe at me.

 **"Hit me, hit me!"** the monster gurgled as I ducked, and I complied with its request by taking out my baton and clubbing it constantly as I let out loud noises of panic and pure savagery until one hit caved its head in and it melted into a puddle of ink.

"Lewis, you okay?! I hear screaming!" Boris called out to me while I was darting my eyes around like a cornered animal and I took a few deep breaths to calm down as I put my baton away.

"I'm fine! A fucking monster tried to jump me, but I killed it!" I replied as I went over to the lever and continued, "Okay, I found the other one! Ready?!"

"Yeah!" Boris said loudly.

"Alright...pull!" I declared and pulled the lever.

Once I was done with that, I walked down the hallway and went left through the path I passed earlier until I saw a tape recorder and played it to hear Wally and Thomas arguing.

"Alright, let's go over this again. If the pressure goes over 45, I screw the safety in tighter, right?" Wally asked.

"No dammit! For the last fucking time! If you do that, you'll blow every Goddamn pipe in this place! If it reaches 45, you unhook the safety switch," Thomas argued.

"You sure? You know, this sounds harder than comparing ear's wax to bee's wax," Wally stated and I could just imagine the janitor scratching his head in confusion.

"Look, it's not that difficult! Just keep an eye on the damn gauge!" Thomas exclaimed in frustration, sounding like he wanted to pull his hair out.

"Look, pal, if you think I'm doing my damn job and yours, I'm outta here!" Wally retorted as the tape stopped.

 _"Well, that was a waste of time,"_ I thought as I turned around and met up with Boris.

Boris and I went through the now open doors and moved through a corridor, entering a large room and going down a flight of stairs to find an old elevator. I pushed the button next to the gated doors, and they opened so that we could go inside.

 _"Ah, shit...this is not a good idea. God knows how long this elevator has been in disrepair,"_ I thought uneasily just as the doors closed and Alice started speaking.

 **"You're so interesting...so different. I have to say, I'm an instant fan. Looks like you've got a date with an angel. Come to me now. Level 9, just follow the screams,"** Alice beckoned in a sultry voice, and Boris and I looked at each other warily.

"Lewis...I ain't liking this," Boris whimpered while the elevator was going down, and I patted his shoulder reassuringly just as the elevator stopped at level 9 and the doors opened.

 **"Come on, step out of your cage. There is a whole twisted world out here,"** Alice almost sounded like she was begging as Boris and I carefully stepped out and I took the lead.

We went down the stairs and I saw a recorder from Thomas Conner on a shelf that was in front of us, and I played it to hear Thomas sounding less than pleased.

"These Godforsaken elevators...sometimes they open, sometimes they don't...sometimes they come, sometimes they keep on going to hell and back. I keep telling these dumbasses. If Mr. Joey Drew keeps cutting corners like this, someone's sure to end up getting killed by falling to their deaths. And it sure as hell ain't gonna be me. I'm taking the stairs," Thomas grumbled irritably just as the tape stopped.

 _"Okay...note to self, be wary of elevators,"_ I thought uneasily as I looked at Boris, who also didn't look happy to hear what the former repairman said.

We took a right and kept walking until we found ourselves standing in front of a large metal door that had the same 'she's quite a gal' sign with Alice Angel's head above it, making me conclude that this was where Alice was hiding. When the door opened, Boris suddenly took off down the corridor and I chased after him to keep Boris in my line of sight. I was confused as to why Boris was recklessly putting himself in danger like that until what I saw next didn't compare the previous horrors I had witnessed.

"Oh my fucking God..." I breathed out in a combination of shock, horror, and disgust as I gazed around the room that I was currently in.

The entire room was filled with deceased Boris clones. Each one strapped to an examination table with their chests cut open, organs removed and replaced with mechanical strain, just like the Boris corpse I saw when I arrived here. This was impossible, but I couldn't deny that I was seeing more than one Boris as I went over to the real Boris, who was staring at a dead clone with eyes widened in horror.

"Boris...c'mon, you don't need to see that," I said as I put a hand on his shoulder out of concern.

"Lewis, this is...me. How is this possible?" Boris questioned in disbelief at the sight and I gently led him away from the gruesome scene.

"Boris, how about you head back to the elevator and wait for me, I won't be long," I offered and Boris nodded in agreement, the cartoon wolf going back the way he came from as I carefully crossed the sea of ink on a small bridge of planks.

 **"Look around, it took so many of them to make me so beautiful. Anything less than perfect was left behind. I had to do it, she made me,"** Alice rambled insanely while I crossed the planks.

I went through the door at the far end of the room and went down the hall to see a window that showed the disfigured Alice Angel electrocuting a Piper clone, who was strapped to an examination table as Alice stopped the torture to look at me. Now that I could see her more clearly, she looked like a humanoid version of the cartoon character I saw on TV growing up...but her half deformed face was a far cry from the singing angel I knew as a kid. She still had the demonic horns, the halo (which was nearly melted into her head), and the majority of her body was covered in black, including her hands and feet.

 **"Hmm...now we come to the question. Do I kill you? Do I tear you apart to my heart's delight? The choices of the beautiful are unbearable. How's a girl to choose? Take this little freak for instance! He crawled in here...trailing his tainted ink to my door! It could've touched me, it could've pulled me back! Do you know what it's like? Living in the dark puddles? It's a buzzing, screaming well of voices! Bits of your mind, swimming like...like fish in a bowl! The first time I was born from its inky womb, I was a wiggling, pussing, shapeless slug! The second time...well...it made me an angel! I will not let the demon touch me again. I'm so close now, so...almost perfect. Yes, I will spare you for now. Better yet, I'll even let you ascend and leave this place if you will do a few teensy weensy little favors for me first. Return to the lift, my little errand boy. We have work to do,"** Alice instructed as she pressed a button and a steel shutter covered the window.

I let out a shaky breath I was holding in and turned around to head back to the elevator, aiming my gun while unable to get rid of how familiar Alice's voice was...then my eyes widened in shock and realization when I figured out that the voice was Susie's.

 _"That was Susie?! What the fuck had happened to that poor girl? Judging from the way she was talking, she must've lost her mind a long time ago and formed some kind of Dissociative Identity Disorder,"_ I thought in horror as I came to the conclusion that Susie was responsible for killing all those clones, and taking their organs in a twisted attempt to make herself look beautiful.

When I entered the large room again, I spotted a tape recorder from Susie in a corner of the room on my left and I headed over to play it.

"Who would've thought? Me having lunch with Joey Drew! Apparently, times are tougher than I thought. For a moment there, I thought I'd be stuck with the check. But I gotta say, he wasn't at all what I expected. Quite the charmer, and he even called me Alice...I liked it," Susie stated as the tape stopped.

I shook my head and felt sorry for Susie, knowing that she had no idea what kind of man Joey was and wondered if something had happened back then to make Susie snap and go crazy after becoming that deformed Alice Angel. Crossing the sea of ink with the Boris clones, I eventually went back out the front door and Alice or Susie started speaking.

 **"Since I can see that you are armed, my little errand boy, you will be perfect for the favors I ask you to do. My machines are hungry! Gather me some spare parts,"** Alice ordered just as a mechanism next to me opened up to show me a wrench.

Holstering my gun, I grabbed the wrench and headed back to the elevator while defending myself from Searchers that oozed up from the floor to ambush me.

 **"There are so few rules to our world now, so little truths, but there is one rule we all know and respect down here. Beware of the Ink Demon and stay out of plain sight or he will find you. For if you see him, you better hide. If you don't, well, I enjoyed our date. Now, let us begin our work,"** Alice said on the intercom while I approached the elevator and saw Boris waving as I met up with him inside.

"So, Lewis, what's the deal?" Boris inquired as I pressed the button that would take us to Level K.

"Apparently, Alice wants me to do some things for her. Boris, it's probably a good idea for you to stay here in the elevator where it's safe since I don't think "Bendy" and any of those damn Searchers can get through metal...I hope?" I muttered the last part in uncertainty while the elevator took us up to Level K.

"You won't get any objections from me," Boris agreed nervously just as the elevator stopped at our destination.

 **"Have you met him? The Ink Demon? They say he hears everything. Every creak of the floor, every rustle of paper, so I wouldn't run so fast if I were you...you never know what will draw him in,"** Alice warned teasingly while I went up the nearby stairs and headed down the hallway.

 _"Okay...so Bendy has some kind of sharp hearing? If that's true, then I can't use my gun unless I have no other choice since gunshots will be like ringing the damn dinner bell in this place,"_ I thought as I entered a room with gooey puddles of ink and killed a Charley clone to get a gear.

Looking throughout the room, I found gearboxes that were either empty or had two gears in them. Then, I heard Alice talking on the intercom.

 **"Ah, that should be plenty. Return them to me, and try not to die on the way back"** Alice instructed.

I returned back to the elevator and met up with Boris just as Alice started rambling again.

 **"Sammy said I had talent...he was always a good liar. Still, he was once a very handsome man,"** Alice stated while the two of us headed back to Level 9 and I dropped off the gears.

 _"Wait, Sammy and Susie used to be in a relationship? Damn...no wonder Susie felt so betrayed when Sammy replaced her with Allison Pendle. When everything had gone to hell and Susie was changed into Alice Angel, that must've been the very thing that finally made her already fragile mind snap and go insane,"_ I thought just as Alice spoke.

 **"Have you seen them? The swollen ones! They're just stuffed full of extra thick ink...it makes me sick! And yet...it's the perfect thing for keeping myself together. If you're gonna catch them, you're gonna have to learn how to move quietly. Come back to my door, because I have something that you'll need,"** Alice ordered as the mechanism opened to show me a large syringe.

I gave up the wrench and took the syringe, heading back to the elevator in order to go to Level 11. Once Boris and I made it, I snuck around the floor and gathered the extra ink while fighting off Butcher Gang clones...eventually finding myself in a room with a window. I held back a yelp of alarm when I saw an ink monster with a projector for a head moving past the window, the projector head showing a light that flickered while the creature moved out of sight.

 _"Jesus fucking Christ! What in the everloving hell was that thing?!"_ I thought incredulously as I hoped that I would never encounter that monster. I looked to my right and saw a recorder from Wally that was on top of a barrel. I played it in order to take my mind off of my encounter with the monster.

"I truly don't get it, because everyone's walking around here like grandma just died...nothing but pissed off expressions everywhere. I mean, hello, you make cartoons! Your job is to make people laugh. I'm telling you...if these people don't start cracking a smile every now and then, I'm outta here!" Wally vowed as the tape stopped.

 _"So, Joey was such a douchebag to everyone that it pissed off everybody under his employ...I feel sorry for the workers who used to work here when they left the studio,"_ I thought while I went to gather the last of the extra ink.

 **"How sickening! It makes my skin crawl, but the task is done. Bring me back my equipment, please,"** Alice suggested politely.

I took the elevator again and dropped the syringe into the slot that was next to Alice's door, feeling irritated and wondering when she was going to let Boris and I leave this horrible place.

 **"I'll make this simple. Look for valve panels, turn the little wheels, then bring me their power cores. Please don't make me regret sparing you, because I can always change my mind,"** Alice threatened menacingly, and I narrowed my eyes.

"You just try to kill me and see what happens..." I trailed off quietly as the mechanism opened to show...a plunger?

Although I was utterly confused, I shook it off and took the object as I went to the elevator in order to head up to Level P. When Boris and I had arrived at Level P, I got to work by turning the valves and fighting off a combination of Butcher Gang clones and Searchers...then I spotted the familiar inky web-like patterns pooling over every surface and quickly rushed over to a Miracle Station in a panic just as the Ink Demon came around the corner. I hid and kept quiet as the monster stalked the area for me, losing interest pretty soon and leaving. Once "Bendy" was gone, I left the Miracle Station and continued my task until I was done and Alice spoke.

 **"You are quite the efficient little errand boy, aren't you?"** Alice purred and I felt creeped out.

"Thanks...I guess?" I muttered uneasily as I went back to the elevator and took it down to Level 9.

 **"There was a time when people knew my name..."it's Alice Angel!" they'd say. Feels like it was so long ago, but those days can come back. Dreams come true, Susie...dreams come true,"** Alice rambled, and I knew that Susie was too far gone to be saved after decades of pure hell and insanity in this fucked up place.

When Boris and I arrived at Level 9, I headed back to the door and placed the power cores inside the slot.

 **"You see those grinning demons? Let's remove them, shall we? I've got just the tool to make this even more enjoyable,"** Alice stated as she sent me an ax.

With my new weapon, I hacked down the boards to a nearby door to see what was inside and killed a Searcher that was lurking inside. Then, I found a recorder that had the name Grant Cohen on it, and I played it to hear a male voice with a slight English accent.

"They say the real problem with Mr. Drew is that he never actually tells us "little people" anything. Oh, sure...according to him, there's always big stuff coming with adventure and fame and the like. But I'm the guy, see, who has to make sure our budgets don't go to hell in a handbasket just because that asshole genius upstairs went out and got himself another idea. Speaking of which, and this is top secret apparently, Mr. Drew has another large project in mind now...and it ain't gonna be cheap," Grant stated as the tape stopped.

 _"Christ...no wonder the studio was forced to shut down. Mr. Drew racked up so much debt by coming up with non-stop ideas that because of putting in so much money and the workers going missing, Joey had to declare bankruptcy and close the studio down permanently...that's what happens when you dream way too big since life has a habit of giving you a swift boot in the ass for being too ambitious,"_ I thought while I took the elevator to my next destination.

I arrived on Level K and proceeded to chop up every Bendy cut-out I saw while moving to Heavenly Toys, getting rid of the last cut-outs and sighing at the tasks that were starting to annoy the hell out of me. Suddenly, a large black blob of ink oozed out of the wall and pooled down to the floor, the pile of goo slowly forming into the Ink Demon which prompted me to take shelter into a Miracle Station to hide. I tried to stay quiet as the monster limped around and made hissing gasps that sounded like faint snarling, and the monster eventually limped down the hall which gave me the chance to leave the tiny building and try to sneak away. As I was heading to the elevator, I was suddenly grabbed and tossed into a wall, which caused me to start choking for breath as the terrifying figure of the Ink Demon leered down at me and I was grabbed again. I was slammed against the wall and pinned, the monster leaning forward and pressing its torso against mine as its form started rippling and oozing on me.

 **"Need...host..."** I shockingly heard the monster gurgle while I struggled to reach for my gun.

The black goo caressed me as I managed to get my gun out of its holster and fired two shots into the creature's oozing face, forcing it to let go from the unexpected attack as it melted into a pile of goo. I took advantage by running to safety and staying hidden until the monster gave up looking for me. I finished my job of chopping the cut-outs and Alice started speaking.

 **"Ah, now that was fun! Oh, but I forgot to mention that he hates it when I do that. I would hide if I were you,"** Alice warned which pissed me off to no end.

"Now she fucking tells me!? That damn thing nearly drowned me!" I exclaimed hotly just as the Ink Demon oozed at my location and formed near me.

I took off running and lost him by hiding, making sure that the monster wasn't around as I arrived back at the elevator.

"Lewis, what happened to you? You're covered in ink," Boris pointed out in concern as we went back to Level 9.

"Just...don't ask, because I am sick of all of this and I just want to get out of this fucking hellhole," I grumbled tiredly while I tried to wipe the black substance off of me.

We made it back to Level 9 and I dumped the ax into the slot.

 **"The disgusting wretches have wandered my halls unchecked! They're trying to drag me back to the darkness! Don't let them take your angel! Purge them one by one! Smash them into puddles! Kill them!"** Alice screamed just as I saw many ink monsters heading to the door.

"Come on, you motherfuckers! I'm right here, so come and get me!" I shouted and charged at them with a savage roar.

* * *

I lost count of how many Searchers and Butcher Gang clones I killed, but I showed no mercy by brutally beating them to death with my baton and now I was standing in a large puddle of ink, trying to catch my breath.

"Who else wants some!" I challenged with a slightly unstable look in my eyes, but there was no response.

 **"So quiet, like a welcoming grave. I like the silence, don't you? I hate leaving work unfinished! Fortunately, I have you to pick up the pieces, but you'll have to go even deeper. Down, down, down into the abyss. Take the lift down, say hello to an old friend. Sending you a little present, a little firepower. Take good care of it since it belonged to someone very special,"** Alice stated as I was shocked when she sent me a Tommy Gun that had a drum magazine.

 _"Holy shit...what the hell is a fucking Tommy Gun doing down here? It doesn't matter since I now have much better firepower than my service weapon,"_ I thought gleefully as I picked up the gun and aimed down the sights, nodding while I racked the charging handle and kept it lowered to the ground.

Entering the elevator, Boris and I went down to Level 14 and I stepped out while aiming the Tommy Gun, seeing that I was now on a structure that was surrounded by a sea of ink. Not seeing anything threatening, I moved slowly and saw a dead Butcher Gang clone slumped against the railing, prompting me to head over so that I could pick up its heart and put it in my pocket. Just as I was about to head down the stairs, I spotted a familiar flickering light in a hallway that filled me with dread.

 **"Shhhh...there he is. The Projectionist, skulking in the darkness. You be sure to stay out of his light if you don't want any trouble. Just bring me back the pieces I need,"** Alice warned over the intercom.

As I moved quietly towards the steps, I saw the same projector-headed ink figure from before who was pacing eerily from hallway to hallway, flashing his light everywhere within his viewpoint. I knew that I needed to be smart if I wanted to stay alive. Seeing another recorder on a wooden crate in the open, I quickly grabbed it and took cover so that I could play it. Pressing play, I heard Norman's voice again.

"Now, I'm not looking for trouble, it's just the nature of us projectionists to seek out the dark places. You see, I've learned the ins and outs of this here studio. I know how to avoid being bothered by the likes of this...company. That projectionist they always say is creeping around and just lookin' for trouble. Well, trouble or not, I sees everything. They don't even know when I'm watching, even when I'm right behind 'em," Norman stated as the tape stopped.

 _"Oh my God...that thing with the projector for a head is Norman Polk? Poor bastard...no one deserves to go through this form of hell,"_ I thought while I watched Norman wandering the halls and groaning.

I decided to end Norman's suffering and stealthily moved behind him, aiming the gun at his back.

"I'm sorry that this happened to you," I stated, causing Norman to whip around and screech at me.

I opened fire and the poor soul howled in pain at the bullets striking him until the light died out and Norman dropped to the inky ground with a splash. I stared at the body as it melted and merged into the sea of ink, letting out a shaky sigh as I sent a silent prayer for Norman. I shook my head and searched for the rest of the hearts. I got them and turned a valve I had found before I made it to the elevator.

"Ya okay, Lewis? Ya don't look so good," Boris asked in concern.

"I'll be fine...let's just finish these errands and get out of this horrible place," I said quietly, just wanting to get out of this place so that I could get some therapy and get out of my ink-stained uniform.

 **"Tell me, were they still writhing in your hands? Bring them to me now! I don't like to wait!"** Alice demanded, causing me to clench the rifle in my hands.

"I am getting really fucking sick of hearing that damn bitch and her fucking demands. I swear to God...if I hear her voice demanding me to do something one more time..." I implied menacingly. Boris stared at me with worry since I was becoming more unstable and violent the longer I stayed in this place.

We arrived at Level 9 and I put the hearts into the slot, swearing that I would kill her if she made me do something else.

 **"It seems we've reached the end of my to-do list, my little errand boy. I hope you enjoyed our time together because I'll always treasure it. Return to the lift...it's time to go home,"** Alice cooed, but there was still one more thing I wanted to do first before Boris and I left the studio.

Telling Boris that I would be back in a moment, I went up the nearby stairway and found the secret room that was flooded with ink earlier, but it wasn't flooded anymore due to me draining it from Level 14. Descending down the steps, I went down a hallway and discovered a tape recorder on a table with the name Henry Stein on it. I was surprised that I was seeing a recorder of my great-grandfather, and I played it to hear a soft-spoken male voice.

"Only two weeks into this company and already it's gotten interesting. Joey is a man of ideas and only ideas. When I agreed to start this whole thing with him, I thought that there would be a little more give and take. Instead, I give and he takes. I haven't seen Linda for days now. Still, someone has to make this happen. When in doubt, just keep drawing, Henry. On the plus side, I've got a new character I think people are going to love," Henry said as the tape stopped.

I didn't say anything and just took the tape out of the recorder, not knowing how to react to hearing my great-grandfather's voice for the first time and felt empathetic that this was the only thing left of my great-grandfather. I took the tape and placed it in my pocket, wanting to take it with me so that I could keep Henry's memory alive.

 _"I swear to God I will make sure that the people who died here will get a proper burial,"_ I vowed internally as I headed back to the elevator.

Boris and I shared a manly hug as the elevator ascended, and I felt relief knowing that we were about to escape this fucked up hell for good...but the one issue was how to explain to the public about Boris since cartoon characters weren't supposed to be real. I'll have to cross that bridge when I get to it.

"I can't believe I'm going outside for the first time in my life," Boris breathed in awe and I chuckled.

"If you think going outside is amazing, wait 'till you see the changes that have been made over the decades," I remarked with a tired grin just as Alice spoke.

 **"Have you ever wondered what Heaven is like? I like to dream that it's quite beautiful...a soft valley of green grass, blanketed by a warm sun. I don't think I'll ever get to see it. Are you ready to ascend, my little errand boy? The heavens are waiting,"** Alice purred and giggled which turned into psychotic laughter, causing Boris and I to look at each other warily.

Suddenly, the elevator started plummeting at a dangerous speed and causing Boris and I to shout in complete terror. Boris covered his eyes and shivered with absolute fear while I held him for his safety.

"Shit! Boris, hold on to something!" I cried in alarm.

 **"Did you really think I'd let you steal from me?! Did you really think I'd just let you go?! No, Lewis! I know who you are and I know why you are here! And you will not stop what needs to be done! Now, come down and bring me back my Boris! It is the most perfect Boris I've ever seen and I want it! I need it! I need its insides so I can be beautiful again! Don't you understand?! Don't you get it?! Give him to me! Or better yet, I'll take him! Once...you're...dead!"** Alice roared over the intercom with her voice laced with venom and fury.

"Fuck you! I'll kill you, bitch! Do you hear me?! I'll fucking kill you!" I screamed in rage just as the elevator crashed to the very bottom, and I got knocked out when my head cracked against the ground.

The next thing that I knew, I had blurry vision when I slowly opened my eyes to see a terrified-looking Boris holding my shoulders and frantically trying to wake me up by shaking me, but I could see the menacing figure of Alice approaching slowly and methodically. I groaned quietly and tried to reach for my gun, but I closed my eyes and opened them again to see Boris being yanked into the darkness. At that point, I blacked out from the pain and knew no more.

* * *

A/N Finally done! I want to apologize for not updating for months, but I didn't have the motivation which irked me. So, looks like things are getting far worse for Lewis and now he has to save Boris before Alice does God-knows-what to him. I noticed that there are no reviews on this story, so I would like to see how you all like this story. Let me know how you all think the next chapter is going to end and what the twist is that I have planned for the end of the next chapter. Stay tuned.


	4. Colossal Wonders

Joey Drew Studios, Brooklyn, New York City, June 14, 2018.

 _"Central, 23-David is 10-84 at Joey Drew Studios."_

 _"10-4, 23-David."_

 _"Central, 23-David, possible 10-10 inside the building. Please advise."_

 _"10-4, 23-David. Use extreme caution."_

I groaned in pain as I regained consciousness, opening my eyes to see that I was lying on the floor next to the wrecked elevator. As I tried to sit up, I made a shout of agony when my ribs flared up in pain and I noticed that I felt dizzy, my head feeling like someone took a steel bar against it and melted it.

 _"Guh...fuck...my ribs, feels like a few might be broken...feel woozy, not good...must be suffering from a concussion...need to stay awake or I'll fall into a coma if I pass out again,"_ I barely thought while I carefully stood up.

As I leaned against the wall next to me, I looked around and saw what was left of my hat that was on the floor and had been destroyed by fallen shards of metal. I groaned from the aching in my head, and I placed a hand up against it to feel something wet and partially dry. I concluded that I must have busted my head open when I hit the ground. While I was recovering, I struggled to remember what had happened and I recalled that bitch "Alice" kidnapping Boris which caused hot fury to rise up. I slowly looked around and saw a sign that said I was on Level S, making me wonder just how deep underground I was in. But then I reminded myself that Boris was taken by Alice, and I needed to save him before that psychotic bitch did God-knows-what to him. Boris helped me and kept me sane while I was still trapped in this fucking place. If I was going to escape this hellhole of what used to be a promising animation studio, then I was sure as hell not going to leave Boris behind.

I went down the long hallway after pulling out my gun, stopping at the end when I was met with a sign that said "Level S: Accounting & Finance". I was undoubtedly in a section of the studio where the finances were monitored. Heading down the left hallway, I spotted what appeared to be a submarine door that was missing the handle.

"Seriously? Why is it never fucking easy in this Godforsaken place? The handle has to be around here somewhere," I muttered irritably as I turned around and went down the opposite hallway, noticing that some of the walls had dirt in the foundations. I deduced that I was deep below the Earth's surface and wondered why a studio had so many floors underground.

Turning around a corner, I saw two doors and spotted a sign on the right door that said 'Management'. I headed to it in the hopes that the handle was inside Grant's office. When I opened the door, I was shocked to see a huge amount of frantic writing all over the walls and floor in ink: the words written over each other in various sizes, saying things like 'taxes', 'time is money', or just a small code of numeric characters. Either Grant was schizophrenic, or the notion that Joey's negligence of the studio's financial struggles was too much for him and he snapped and went insane from all the problems that Joey was causing. As I looked around, I spotted a recorder and played it in order to figure out what had happened here.

When I played it, all I could hear was screaming and other indescribable noises that culminated in the sound of something shattering. I felt uneasy since it sounded like this poor bastard was being attacked by someone or something. As the tape played on, the noises of anguished screaming changed into the noises of a liquid flowing and a familiar low groan rang out as the tape stopped.

"What the fuck?" I softly whispered in disbelief while I slowly inched away from the recorder, feeling highly disturbed.

Was it possible that I had heard someone being possessed by the ink and changed into a Searcher? I was uncertain and didn't want to listen to the tape again. Looking around, I spotted a valve handle on the floor in a corner and went over to get it, then I headed back to the metal door and put the valve back in its rightful place. With a small hope that something fucked up wouldn't be behind this new door, I was proven dead wrong when I opened it. I stepped into the room just as the lights turned on to reveal a small circular stage of some kind with a group of humanoid ink statues crowded around a large Bendy statue in poses that made it look like they were worshipping it. The banner above them said the same words from before-'he will set us free'-which didn't make me feel good at all.

If that wasn't creepy enough, I prayed that those ink statues wouldn't turn their heads to look at me since that would be even worse. But I remembered that Boris seriously needed help, which prompted me to keep moving. Circling around the unnerving scene while aiming my gun at the ink figures in paranoia, I entered a small library section of the room that went in a circle as well, but I found my way into the middle that had a desk and a table in the center with another recorder sitting on the table. Hoping that there was some decent information on it, I played it to hear Susie's voice.

"They told me that I was perfect for the role, absolutely perfect. Now, Joey's going around and saying things behind closed doors. I can always tell. Now he wants to meet with me again tomorrow, says he has an "opportunity" for me so I'll hear him out. But if that smooth-talker thinks he can double-cross an angel and get away with it, well, that asshole's got another thing coming...Alice, ooh, she doesn't like liars," Susie stated lowly just as the tape stopped.

From what I could tell, Susie was rather suspicious that Joey hadn't been faithful to her about her role as Alice Angel, which could have something to do with Susie being replaced with Allison but I didn't care at the moment since I needed to save the only person who had been a good friend to me in this horrible place. I moved throughout the Archives and found a door with the word 'Private' on it, along with five unlit light bulbs above it. I pushed at the door, but it didn't budge and I swore under my breath since it was either bolted on the other side or there was a secret way to open it. It was a door to somewhere private, so they weren't going to just leave a lever or something else out for someone to come across by accident. There had to be something that would get this door open, so the only thing I needed to do was to find it.

After searching the area, I noticed an out-of-place book that was sticking out of the bookcase and I recalled seeing a movie once where the person had to pull out the book in order to open a secret passage...maybe this is the same thing but in the other way around? I pushed the book in place and saw one of the light bulbs turn on.

"So, that's how you open this door...gotta give props for the clever son of a bitch who came up with this idea," I muttered, feeling slightly impressed.

I found two more books and pushed them back into place, then everything seemed to start shaking suddenly. My vision distorted and I heard a high-pitched scream of primal terror as the doors opened and closed many times, and the chandelier swung around. I shouted in panic and aimed my gun around until everything went back to normal, causing me to dart my eyes around in sheer paranoia.

 _"What the fuck just happened?! Am I losing my Goddamn mind?!"_ I thought in distress while I gasped in terror.

I took a few deep breaths and calmed my racing heart, completely shook up by what just happened while I returned to the stage and stopped when I saw that the ink statues were gone.

"What? How the hell are they gone? That's not possible...it's not possible because I know that I saw them! I'm not fucking crazy, and I'll kill anyone who thinks otherwise!" I rambled uncontrollably and my eyes widened in horror from what I had just said.

"What the fuck is wrong with me? Christ, I'm losing it down here. Just...keep it together, Lewis," I muttered to myself wearily, scared of myself and how I was slowly going insane the longer I was still trapped down here.

I went to find the last two books and pushed them, heading back to the "Private" door to enter. I opened the door and walked in, my eyes widening in bewilderment when I saw that I was standing in some kind of underground mine that had cages hanging from chains.

 _"A mine? What the hell is going on here? How is there a mine underneath an animation studio? This was not shown in the old city records, so Joey might've had this place built without the city's permission...it's like the underground studio covers all of Brooklyn itself,"_ I thought in disbelief as I pressed on, moving across the walkway toward a mechanism that operated a cart on a cable to move across the near-bottomless pit. As I approached, I sighed tiredly when I saw the mechanism was missing a gear.

"Seriously? I swear to God someone's screwing with me right now...ever since I got to this hell, I've had to deal with either a locked door or I need to find something in order to get past an obstacle," I grumbled in frustration.

Looking behind me, I saw a strange-looking machine with the word 'Gent' on it. Although I was curious, I ignored it and went down the hallway to my right that led to a large pipe of some kind. Pulling the lever on my left, the giant cylinder slowly raised to reveal an undulating mass of ink that was bubbling. I approached the ink valve and turned it, wondering what would happen next and quickly aimed my gun at the blob that oozed upward and formed into a swollen Searcher who had his back turned to me. I slowly holstered my gun and very carefully scooped up the extra ink with my hands, which caused the Searcher to melt and merge back into the black mass.

Recalling the Gent machine I saw earlier, I headed back and placed the glob of ink inside before I turned the crank to start the machine up. Then, I was amazed when the machine shot out a blob of ink that formed into a perfect coffee mug on the floor.

 _"Holy shit...did the people that used to work in this studio somehow manage to form ink into actual objects? Given the fact that Mr. Drew was into the occult, it wouldn't surprise me if he found a method to change ink into many things,"_ I thought in wonder while I located the dial on the other side of the machine.

Turning the dial until it showed the symbol of a cogwheel, I went back to the room on the right and grabbed more extra ink, walking back and used the Gent machine to create a gear. I headed to the mechanism and placed the gear in its proper place, pulling the lever and waiting for the cart that was slowly approaching the platform I was standing on. The cart stopped next to the platform and I carefully stepped on it, trying not to let my Acrophobia get to me while the cart slowly took me to the other side. Suddenly, the cart immediately stopped and shook violently, causing me to shout in complete fear and I grappled onto the sides while I hyperventilated in sheer terror.

"Oh God, Oh God, please don't break, please don't break!" I stuttered in sheer panic as the cart started moving again.

The cart reached the other side and I frantically got out to slump onto my hands and knees, panting rapidly and silently thanking any deity that I didn't fall to my death. I stood up and pulled out my gun as I reached the door ahead of me, going through and entering a long and narrow hallway just as I witnessed the hallucination of thousands of inky hands coming out of the contorting walls to try and grab me. I aimed around me and eventually covered my ears to try and block the unending whispering that wouldn't stop and go away.

"Shut up...I said shut the fuck up!" I roared as I fired a shot at one of the hands, the vision ending to show that nothing was there.

"Oh, God...I can't take this anymore...I'm losing my fucking mind," I whimpered and laughed unnervingly in a soft tone of voice.

I tried to keep a grip over what was left of my sanity as I finally made it out of the hallway, finding myself at a flight of stairs and ascending just as Alice spoke suddenly.

 **"I see you there, my little errand boy. Your angel is always watching. What is it that keeps you going? Is it the thrill of the hunt? The thirst for your freedom? Or perhaps you're just looking for a little, friendly, wolf? Better hurry errand boy, because Boris is having trouble staying in one piece,"** Alice taunted over the intercom with a cackle, which succeeded in making me loathe that ink-covered bitch for trying to kill me and kidnapping Boris.

"I swear to fucking Christ I'll find you, and I will snap you into pieces with my bare hands when I do," I vowed venomously with an expression of pure hatred.

I was more motivated to keep going and not stopping to rest or slow down, and I sure as hell wasn't going to leave unless I saved Boris from that cunt of an angel. I found myself at the top of the stairs and went into a room that had a catwalk above the next door. I could see an inky humanoid creature trudging across the catwalk and hear him either whimpering or sobbing while he looked around.

"He's gonna find me, he always finds me...oh God! I just wanna go home! When do we go home? When do we go home?" the ink person babbled, looking around like he was being followed.

After the ink person disappeared out of sight, I felt sympathy for the poor soul since I knew just how he felt. I spotted something on the sofa to my left and looked to see a white clean cloth that was laying on the sofa. I holstered my gun and picked up the cloth, wrapping it around my head and making sure that it was tied up in a way that it wouldn't fall off.

 _"Well...it's not much, but it should prevent me from losing any more blood until I leave and get medical attention,"_ I thought as I pulled out my gun and headed to the door in front of me.

I opened the door and was taken off-guard when I saw many ink people in the room who were staring at me with looks of sorrow and a lack of any kind of hope. There were also dark cells that held more ink people.

"Who...are you people?" I inquired hesitantly, holstering my gun and keeping my hands in their line of sight to show that I wasn't a threat.

"We used to work here in this very studio...drawing cartoons, setting up that fucking machine. It has cursed us ever since that horrible machine was brought here," one of the ink people answered in a choked up voice.

"That fucking ink transformed us, trapped us here inside these walls, and never once let us leave," another one in a cell mentioned.

"The Ink Demon has already slaughtered the majority of us...we could barely find our way out of this place," another ink person finished.

"Please, you have to help us," one begged pleadingly as he came face to face with me.

"I...I'm really sorry. I wish I could help you all, but I truly don't know how," I told them all honestly, looking with a sympathetic expression.

"Please, for the love of God, we just want to be free of this hell as much as you do! You're our only hope to escape this horrible place!" cried another ink victim, who threw herself onto her knees.

"Just because I don't know how to help you all, doesn't mean I'm going to leave you here. I just need to save a friend of mine, because that angel bitch has him. After I free him and kill her, I swear I will try to see if there is a way to change you all back to normal. It sure as hell not going to be easy, but I'll do my damndest," I vowed in determination.

"Thank you, and God bless you," most of them said gratefully.

"Try to go through there," an ink person said as he pointed to an uncovered vent in the far wall ahead with the words 'no angels' and another 'he will set us free' were above it, the latter of which indicated that there were thousands of this message everywhere in this place.

I nodded and went past the Lost Souls to reach the vent, but I was stopped when one of the Lost Souls called to me.

"What is it?" I asked the Lost Soul in confusion.

"I couldn't help but notice...are you a police officer?" the Lost Soul inquired, the other ones looking at me with a little sign of hope in their eyes.

"Yeah...one of New York's finest, here to protect and serve," I remarked wryly, causing most of the Lost Souls to laugh slightly.

"I'm sorry you got involved in this hell officer...?" the Lost Soul trailed off, which prompted me to introduce myself.

"Lewis Stein," I clarified, causing all of the Lost Souls to perk up.

"Stein? Are you related to Henry Stein? He was a good man who treated us well before he left the studio. Is he still around?" a Lost Soul asked, and I knew I couldn't tell them that Henry died a horrible death in this place.

"I'm his great-grandson...and he recently passed away," I informed them.

"Oh...we're sorry to hear that, but we just know that he's in a better place now," a Lost Soul assured me.

"Yeah...I need to go now, so don't lose hope," I said and they all nodded.

"We won't. Be careful, Officer Stein," the Lost Soul warned.

I smiled at the Lost Souls, who now had hope in their eyes again as I went to the open vent and crawled in. I took out my flashlight and looked back at the Lost Souls to see them waving goodbye, then I kept moving after a single nod. I crawled through the vent a while until I could see a covered opening that showed an animator's office with a Bendy cut-out. But just as I got close enough to see it, the Ink Demon suddenly popped out of nowhere and abruptly slammed a hand against the cover which caused me to jerk back with a startled yell. I managed to pull out my gun and aim at the monster while it trailed a finger on the cover and left my line of sight.

I didn't know what to make of the strange behavior, completely unsure what the hell just happened. First, that monster had been hunting me down, but it didn't kill me just now? I recalled "Bendy" barely saying that he needed a host, so maybe the nearly endless ink had become a symbiotic creature that needs a host to survive due to the black magic that Joey used. Or maybe I was overthinking it too much. Despite my better judgment, I crawled in the direction of the vents to follow "Bendy", mentally praying I didn't encounter the monster again. While I was moving through the vents, I heard a banging noise that got louder as I looked through a vent cover to see a Lost Soul in a room banging his head on a wall. From my perspective, it appeared that this poor bastard was at the edge of his limits and was about to snap from being in this hellhole for so damn long.

I gulped and kept moving through the vents, eventually climbing out into a large room with a giant Bendy statue, but "Bendy" was nowhere to be found. Ahead of me, I spotted writing next to the stairs that said 'come up and see me' which prompted me to put my flashlight away and pull out my gun. I disregarded the Bendy cut-out next to the Little Miracle Station while I climbed up the flight of steps, heading past the 'almost there' phrase and finally reaching the top where there was a massive Bendy head with an open mouth that acted as an entrance to a room full of boards covered with papers and concept sketches of Bendy-themed amusement park locations and attractions. From what I could see, this must've been where they were designing the blueprints for the Bendyland amusement park.

I recalled my great-grandmother Linda describing the amusement park and how she and Henry had so much fun on the rides before Henry left the studio. Unfortunately, that park lasted as long as the show did, along with its popularity before Walt Disney himself designed his own theme parks around the world. From the studio's history, Bendyland was only in one place for so long before it was forced to close down. Contrary to popular belief, after the park was shut down permanently and torn down, Disney bought that land to make room for his famous Magic Kingdom park. On the table in the center of the room that had a scale model of the amusement park, there was a recording from a man called Bertrum Piedmont and I played it to hear a male British voice.

"For forty years, I've built attractions that stagger the imagination. Colossal wonders such as the world have never seen! I have earned my legacy with sweat. But right in front of everyone, including high-level investors and Wall Street Tycoons, the ever-tactless Joey Drew introduces me, the great Bertrum Piedmont, as Bertie! Like I was his bloody child! You may be paying me Mr. Drew, but you don't own me! I'll build you a park bigger than anything you could ever possibly conceive! But before you go taking any bows Mr. Drew, know that this grand achievement will belong to me and me alone," Bertrum declared arrogantly as the tape stopped.

From what I had learned about the studio and the city's history, I knew that Bertrum Piedmont was a famous amusement park designer who had immigrated to the States just before World War 1 broke out and designed many amusement parks for Big-Wig Tycoons, then he went to work for Joey Drew and became one of the people who went missing. Judging from this tape, Bertrum was not pleased to be called "Bertie" in front of many people and I didn't blame him for being pissed at Joey humiliating him like that.

 _"Damn Mr. Drew, you seemed to have a habit of pissing everybody off back then,"_ I thought while I pulled the nearby lever to open the door that led to Storage 9.

I backtracked to see that the door was open, then I stepped in and saw the lights flickering on to show me the actual Bendyland welcoming sign, but the word 'hell' was written over 'land' so now it read Bendyhell. I spotted a lone Lost Soul perched on a cage below the sign with a downtrodden stare.

"Don't worry, you'll be free soon," I assured the poor bastard before entering the indoor prototype of the actual amusement park where there were carnival mini-games like Bulls Eye Bonanza and Bottle Wallop. There was also a strength-testing mini-game where you slam down a huge mallet to ring the bell. I stopped in front of a haunted house.

"Hmm...looks like this is the only place I need to get through. If I want to get in, I need to start the power," I muttered and added, "Just hold on a little longer, Boris. I'm coming."

I saw a control panel on the right of the Haunted House with four levers, but I needed power in order to operate them. I followed a cable over to the closed door next to the mini-games, which were now open and running. There was another recording from Wally that was between the main two mini-games and I played it.

"These dumbasses down in the warehouse get to play games all day while I'm stuck cleaning up after them! They kept locking themselves out of their own back room, so I say to 'em look, guys, I said. You're smart, right? Here's an idea! Why not rig these games up to knock open the door if ya win? It'll be fun for you guys and it saves me a trip down here every day. They went for it like a dog to pot roast. I tell ya if these guys don't start realizing who the real genius is, I'm outta here!" Wally stated just as the tape stopped.

"Huh...kinda lazy, but brilliant at the same time. I get the feeling that "I'm outta here" is Wally's catchphrase," I muttered as I went to play the mini-games.

I started with the Bulls Eye Bonanza first, using the wooden rifle to hit all of the targets with perfect accuracy due to all the mandatory target practice at the Precinct's shooting range. Then I went to Bottle Wallop and threw all three balls at the stacks of milk bottles, knocking them all down. I headed to the strength-testing mini-game next, and picked up the heavy mallet and slammed it down with enough force to ring the bell at the top.

 **"Tell me, are you having fun? I'm sure Boris doesn't mind waiting for his little rescue party,"** Alice teased suddenly, and I glared up at the ceiling with a murderous expression.

"I'm going to kill you slowly, you crazy bitch," I vowed lowly as I went to the open door with the creepy Bendy costumes, and I pulled the lever.

Done with that, I headed into the Research and Design area which had a huge Bendy arm hanging from the ceiling and a waterfall of ink. Below the balcony I was standing on, I spotted all three Butcher gang members huddling around a fire like they were trying to keep warm. I holstered my gun and took out my baton, eager to take out some pent up anger and frustrations on them as I went downstairs. I tapped the wall loudly with my baton, causing all three monsters to whip their heads at me while I gestured them to come at me with a dark grin.

* * *

Once I was done killing the monsters with my baton, I put it away and pulled out my gun as I went down a hallway at the left corner and passed a crying Lost Soul just before I found myself in a room with cartoon duck heads and a Bendy animatronic. I spotted a recorder with the name Lacie Benton on it, and I played it to hear a middle-aged woman with a thick southern drawl.

"The only fuckin' thing that works around here is my ulcer. Half these dumbasses don't know a wrench from a damn steamroller...buncha morons is what they are. Spend their day in the warehouse arguin' over who's supposed to be doin' what or playing them stupid games. Still, I ain't complainin'. I get most of my time to myself, which suits me just fine... the only thing that bothers me is that mechanical demon in the corner. Bertrum's been working on it for a month now, says it will walk someday and maybe dance...all it does now is creep me the hell out. I swear, when my back is turned, that damn thing's moving," Lacie stated uneasily as the tape stopped.

I looked at the animatronic, recalling a video game where you try to survive in a pizzeria against animal animatronics and I shivered as I hoped that the animatronic didn't start moving. I went to the lever and pulled it, heading back to the main room with the dead Butcher Gang members so that I could pull the next lever, and I headed back to the warehouse. I followed the third cable to the attraction storage room. Inside, I passed rollercoaster carts and a dead Striker clone as I entered an enormous room that held storage boxes and a giant octopus ride that was in the middle of the room. In front of the ride was a recorder that was on a desk, and I played it to hear Bertrum's voice again.

"The biggest park ever built, a centerfold of attractions, and each one grander than the one before it...it makes my eyes come to tears at the thought. But then, oh, Mr. Drew...for all your talk of dreams, you are the true architect behind so many nightmares. I built this damn park, it was to be my masterpiece. My fucking masterpiece! And now you think you can just throw me out?! Trample me in the dust and forget me?! No! This is my bloody park! My bloody glory! You may think I'm gone, but I'm still here!" Bertrum shouted in fury just as the octopus ride started up.

The rotating carts lifted up as the doors in the middle opened to show me a giant humanoid head with short jet-black hair, a mustache, and a blank stare as if he were in a trance. I was horrified to see that the self-running amusement park ride that was spinning its carts around rapidly was Bertrum Piedmont himself. I jumped back when Bertrum slammed one of his "arms" onto the desk, breaking it apart and revealing an ax inside.

I quickly holstered my gun and went to grab the ax, suddenly hit by one of the arms and sent crashing to the ground choking painfully.

 _"Guh...that did not help my fucking ribs..."_ I thought in agony while my broken ribs flared up again.

I staggered to my feet just as Bertrum slammed his arms down again, giving me the chance to rush over and slice off the bolts of one of the arms with my ax. The arm broke off and ink sprayed out, causing me to dive out of the way when Bertrum spun the arms around at a very high rate of speed. I waited until Bertrum slammed down the intact arms, and I broke another arm...continuing this method until I broke the rest of the arms which caused my ax to break. Steam and sparks flew out from the machine as it stopped, and Bertrum looked like he was wheezing and coughing as the doors slammed shut. It was simply horrifying to think that Bertrum had become the very thing he loved building so much, but what was on my mind is how Bertrum became that thing in the first place. I went to a closet and pulled the third lever, knowing that I was even closer to rescuing Boris.

"Three down, one to go," I mumbled aloud as I left the storage room.

I followed the last cable into the Maintenance Room, seeing the words 'choo choo' and Train Trouble posters on the walls as I was met with a flight of stairs that led down to a sea of ink. Before I could head down, I saw a familiar flickering light and paled when Norman came into view and passed my line of sight. I was certain that I had ended Norman's suffering on Level 14 during Alice's errands, but I concluded that maybe he reformed and I felt sick at the knowledge that these poor people wouldn't be able to escape this hell by killing themselves. Recalling that Norman can see and not hear, I waded through the ink pool and reached a lever that was next to the right train. Apparently, that got Norman's attention and I was forced to run back up the stairs and hide in the Little Miracle Station, waiting for Norman to return to his patrol.

I left the tiny safe house and stayed behind Norman quietly so that I didn't get detected again, then I spotted a flight of stairs and carefully went up them to find the last lever I was looking for. I pulled the lever and the lights turned off briefly, causing me to aim my gun around as the lights turned back on and I looked down the balcony to see that Norman was gone. I was confused and wondered where Norman went while I went to leave the area, but my question was answered when a screech-like roar rang out behind me along with the flickering light getting brighter, prompting me to bolt for the tiny safe house.

I took shelter inside the building just as Norman rushed up the stairs and was about to drag me out when the familiar web-like pattern appeared on the walls and my vision distorted. Norman jumped back and looked to my left, roaring a challenge as "Bendy" came into view and hit him hard with a nasty left hook. Norman retaliated by clocking "Bendy" hard across the face with a right hook and a brawl broke out between the two. I was gobsmacked as I watched the monsters beating the hell out of each other until "Bendy" seemed to have had enough and lifted Norman by his neck, the former human screaming in agony as the Ink Demon pulled and ripped his head off. The Ink Demon tossed the head at my hiding place and peered at me, then he dragged Norman's body away and the web-patterns disappeared.

I slowly opened the door and looked around, seeing Norman's head on the ground and an ink trail that led to the wall next to the dented up door. I was still unable to figure out why "Bendy" didn't kill me, but I recalled seeing a recorder from Joey down below and I headed down to play it.

"I believe there's something special in all of us. With true inner strength, you can conquer even your biggest challenges. You just have to believe yourself and remain honest, motivated, and above all, who you really are. Okay, let's stop it right there...I can only do so many takes of this shit a day, and tell the assholes in writing that I want more use of the word 'dreaming' in every message! Keep railing on that, get it?! Dreaming, dreaming, dreaming! People eat up that kind of crap! Hmm, what? It's still on? Well turn it off, damn it!" Joey snapped in irritation just as the tape stopped.

I trembled in rage, filled with so much fury that I knocked the recorder into the ink out of sheer disgust. I was livid and hated Joey so much, so pissed that asshole got to live in comfort for years while these poor bastards were trapped in an endless hell. But what I was really livid about, was the fact that he got my great-grandfather killed in this Godforsaken place by luring Henry with a letter and getting him to head back to the studio. This fucker manipulated his employees into thinking that he was a cheerful and good-natured person at first, only they soon discovered that he was a greedy and disgusting asshole that only cared about fame, fortune, and the need to cheat death itself to stay alive and powerful.

Shaking my head, I went back to the warehouse and pulled the power lever which caused the doors to the Haunted House to open up. Ignoring the 'turn back' warning on the wall, I holstered my gun and got into the cart while an evil laugh played on the speaker. Alice spoke over the intercom while I rode the scary ride, completely unfazed by the animatronic ghosts and skeletons designed to jumpscare the ride's passengers since I've seen much worse.

 **"And now, the ride truly begins, Lewis. Come in and pretend it's all just a bad dream...it's a funny thing, how so much can fall apart so fast. We never really had control at the studio. Either you were in someone's pocket, or you were putting someone into yours. I wanted what was promised to me, I just wanted to be beautiful! Surely you can understand that. Lewis...why are you here? We're all dying to find out. Do you just enjoy the terror of the drop into hell? Because if that's the case...hang on tight. I've got a surprise for you,"** Alice stated as I approached the end of the tunnel.

The doors opened up and the ride brought me into the interior of a classical haunted house setting complete with boarded up windows, wallpaper aging from their walls, portraits of terrifying-looking people, a pipe organ and everything else to set up a real vintage Victorian Era haunted house. The cart circled around the room and started to enter a dark tunnel, but it suddenly stopped when it was grabbed by giant hands. I gasped in sheer horror at seeing a twisted, muscular, malformed Boris with mechanical parts stuck on him, his chest cut open and his eyes in the shape of Xs.

"Boris! Good God, what the fuck did that crazy bitch do to you?!" I screamed helplessly.

 **"Lew...is,"** Boris gurgled as he pushed back the cart and picked it up to toss me across the room.

I fell out of the cart and crashed to the floor, struggling to get to my feet and tears welled up in despair at seeing the monster that used to be Boris. After all my efforts, after going through hell to save my good friend, I was too late and now I had lost the one person who could keep me sane in this hellhole. I pulled out my gun and shakingly aimed at the approaching monster while Alice cackled in triumph over the intercom to taunt me again.

 **"Meet the new and improved Boris! I took what I wanted and in return, I gave him so much more! And this time, there is no Ink Demon or escape! Boris, tear him apart! Leave nothing!"** Alice hollered in psychotic glee as Boris stomped to me.

"Please Boris, don't make me do this, please. I don't want to kill you," I pleaded but Boris roared and charged at me.

I quickly dived out of the way and Boris crashed against the wall, forcing me to come to the horrific decision to fight and kill my best friend who was now a monstrous shell of his former self.

"Please God...forgive for this," I whimpered distressfully while tears ran down my cheeks.

I dodged another charge and Boris hit the wall again, suddenly clutching his abdomen and choking as ink poured out and I fired a shot into Boris' face. Boris recoiled in pain and went to leap up into the air to smash me, forcing me to dive out of the way to prevent getting crushed to death and Boris choked again as ink came out of his twisted body. I fired another shot and Boris recoiled again, heading to the cart that was entering the room and picking it up. My eyes widened just as Boris threw the cart at me, forcing me to roll out of the way.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" I exclaimed incredulously while I kept dodging the flying carts that would kill me on impact.

Eventually, Boris hunched over and clutched his chest again which prompted me to shoot him again, causing Boris to drop onto his back and he died.

 **"Noooo! No! No! No! Why can't you ever just die?!"** Alice roared in fury while I rushed over and holstered my gun so that I could hold Boris' head.

"Oh God...I'm sorry Boris...God help me," I gasped while I witnessed Boris melt into a mass of ink.

I trembled and started laughing quietly, my mind unable to cope with my hellish situation anymore and I just threw my head back while I laughed from pure insanity. Eventually, my crazed laughter slowly changed into uncontrollable sobs of anguish and complete hopelessness, my mind finally snapping from the stress.

"Someone get me out of this hellhole! Someone get me out of this hell! Please, somebody, help me!" I babbled in distress and I heard a scream a rage behind me.

I quickly stood up and pulled out my gun, whipping around to see Alice charging at me and I formed a twisted smile at the opportunity to gut this fucking whore for putting me through hell. Just when Alice was about to attack me, a blade impaled her from behind and she came to a sudden stop right in front of me. Alice gasped and choked up ink while the blade removed itself, and she dropped the ground dead. I heard a tapping noise and looked to see a perfect looking version of Alice, who had a machete and was standing next to a Boris clone with a mechanical arm. The Boris clone was slapping a pipe into his robotic palm and holding a narrowed expression. I didn't care who they were or what they looked like because everyone was an enemy in this place and I would kill them all.

"Stay back, you motherfuckers! I'll kill you if you come any closer! Do you hear me?! I'll fucking kill you!" I rambled insanely while laughing uncontrollably, causing the two cartoons to tense up.

I backed up and shouted death threats with a psychotic grin as I stepped onto the inky mass, my feet stopping suddenly and I looked down to see the gooey mass gripping my feet. I struggled to get my feet out of the ink and my eyes widened in terror when the black mass started crawling up my legs, my breathing turning into rapid panting as the ink covered my legs and slithered up my torso.

"Get off me! Get the fuck off me!" I screamed in a primal fear as my fight or flight instinct kicked in, but I couldn't escape this creature that was about to consume me.

My torso was completely covered, my arms and hands becoming consumed by the black goo and I craned my head away from the ink in a pointless last effort to escape. My head was completely covered and all I could hear was screams, whispers, and other noises as my form rippled and melted into a pile of goo. Next thing I knew, my black mass flowed upwards and formed into a humanoid shape, the ink sinking into my flesh as my human form with the slightly torn NYPD uniform and duty belt appeared before the two cartoons.

I gasped and panted while I struggled to regain myself, holstering my gun and feeling like I was going to puke while I stared down at the floor. I saw a pair of black boots and white pant legs appear in my point of view, and I looked up to see the Boris clone standing in front of me. The Boris clone raised his pipe and struck me hard across the head, my vision blackening as I fell unconscious from the pain.

* * *

A/N Bet you weren't expecting that, were you? Well, what happened to Lewis will be explained in the next and final chapter, so be ready for what happens next. Stay tuned everyone.


	5. The Last Reel

Joey Drew's Studios, Brooklyn, New York City.

*Click*

"June 19, 2018. If anyone finds this, my name is Lewis Stein and I'm currently trapped underneath Joey Drew's studios, a man my great grandfather used to work for decades ago. There's...fucked up creatures lurking down here-monsters, angels...and demons. Right now, two of them are holding me captive after taking away my service weapon, baton, taser, and pepper spray...and I have no fucking clue how to get out of this hellhole.

But besides that...there's more, much more...secrets, hiding deep in the shadows that they don't want me to know. Every second in this fucking place feels like an eternity. I've lost most of my sanity, and...and I know I'm being watched. There's something happening behind the scenes that I'm unable to figure out, but the feeling of eyes on me is keeping me on edge and whatever the hell it is...I don't like it.

If anyone finds this, if you are listening right now, you can't let...hold on...shit, they're coming back."

*Click*

* * *

*Click*

"June 27, 2018. It's me, Lewis...it's been a while since I last recorded and there's not much to do in here, just doodling on sheets of paper, thinking about the past, and practicing shape-shifting to pass the time in this place...it's bizarre, now that my body is made of ink and I'm capable of changing into different shapes like cartoon characters or simple ones...blocks, spheres, and pyramids.

I heard my captors getting into a pissing match today and from the sounds of things, they still don't know what to make of me...I suppose it makes sense since I don't know what to make of them, not to mention that I'm having serious issues about who's an ally or enemy in this place and my list of friends here was not very big in the first place.

God...Boris, it's times like this that I wish he was still here with me and even though he was a very chatty fellow...he was still a good friend to have. I miss him so fucking much...he was the first person to show me kindness in this hellhole and that...fucking Angel...I just couldn't save him and something completely snapped inside me. I swear, I swear on God's green earth that I will escape this unholy nightmare...and I will make it back to everyone."

*Click*

* * *

*Click*

"July 3, 2018. This is probably the last time I'll be talking into this recorder...I think that asshole saw me talking into this thing and might not let me keep it, unfortunately. I...there's so much I want to say, but the most important thing is...Henry, I'm so fucking sorry that you had to die in this horrible place, that you never came home. Coming to this workshop of yours, it...reminds me of all those stories great grandmother Linda used to tell me before she passed away from Alzheimer's a few years ago.

Watching all those cartoons when I was a kid and looking up the history of this place-it reminds me of how much you gained and it shows how much it inspired me to become the man I am today. I feel like I'm close to solving all of the frustrating questions I couldn't figure out, but...there are still a lot of things that don't make any sense to me.

If anyone finds this, it means I'm dead so please...get out of this fucking hellhole and burn it to the Goddamn ground. If you're a cop like me, don't call for backup because the Ink Demon will find you...and he will show no mercy. God help us all."

*Click*

* * *

July 13, 2018.

Long story short, after I was knocked out by that Boris clone with the prosthetic arm, I woke up in a makeshift cell with my weapons gone and saw that I was in the secret hideout of those two Alice and Boris clones. The Boris clone with the metal arm was known as Tom for some reason and he always showed his hostility by shooting me angry glares and throwing hateful gestures in my direction, prompting me to retaliate by sending rude gestures back at him which made Tom even more hostile towards me.

As for that Alice Angel clone, I had always speculated that she was the second voice actress Allison Pendle but it was just a theory so I filed it away for now. I had lost count of how long I had been here but my dying phone had told me that I had been trapped in this place for four weeks, which made me wonder if I had been declared dead by now and the search had been called off.

I had spent time in my cell recording some messages in a cassette, but Tom eventually confiscated it and I started drawing, thinking about the past, and figuring out how my new form works to pass the time...from what I could tell, I could do many things like form myself into different cartoon characters, change into simple shapes, or melt down into a black gooey amorphous mass of ink which was a bizarre experience that I am unable to describe.

Now, I was sleeping in my cot and was woken up by Alice humming a familiar tune to herself, making me get up and head over to the boarded-up doorway to see Alice writing on the wall with ink at the far end of the room.

"I know that song...my great grandmother Linda used to hum it to me when I was little," I muttered fondly, recalling my childhood.

"Everyone knows that song," Alice answered.

I blinked at that since she hadn't said a word to me ever since we first encountered each other, but I paid close attention when she looked behind herself to stare at me.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Alice questioned.

"I'm a police officer that was following up on a call and now I'm trapped here, same as you," I replied shortly with a distrustful glare and Alice looked back at the drawings on the wall.

"Then you know more than we do because one minute, we don't even exist...just thoughts and the next minute, this place," Alice remarked while writing again.

"Are you going to let me the hell out of here?" I asked, having an idea that she probably wasn't going to after my mental breakdown and threatening to kill her and Tom.

"Down here, strangers aren't a good thing...especially after they threaten to kill you while looking insane. How can we trust you? We don't even know what you used to be before the ink consumed you," Alice pointed out firmly and I sighed tiredly.

"Well, I sure as hell don't trust you and your asshole friend after he coldcocked me and you have been keeping me locked up in here for the past four weeks...look, my name is Lewis and my great grandfather used to work here many years ago," I explained and waited for a response while she wrote down more details on the wall.

"I...I honestly don't know my name...so they call me Alice, but I'm no angel. You go back and rest because you look like you need it...we'll talk later," Alice told me with a tiny expression of pity.

Sighing from boredom, I decided to take her word for it and headed back to bed, where I laid down and went back to sleep.

* * *

"It's only for a few hours. No need to worry, I won't go far...only up to Level Six so just stay here. Keep an eye on Lewis, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise," I heard Alice reassuring Tom and I got up from my bed to see her heading out the door. Tom went to sit down on a chair that was facing my cell.

Tom and I stared at each other with distrustful glares while the cartoon wolf was slapping an ax onto his metal hand repeatedly like he was daring me to try something.

"So, are you going to keep glaring me to death or are you going to say something?" I wondered and another glare from him made me add, "Yeah, that's what I thought."

I was getting more than tired and pissed at this macho act and my temper was a lot shorter these days, which wouldn't surprise me if a big blowup were to happen because of one or the both of us starting something that ended in a fistfight. I knew that Tom didn't trust me after my mental breakdown and threatening to kill him and Alice, but I had a life outside these walls and I was beyond sick of being trapped down in this hellhole where nobody knew where I was.

I eventually quit glaring at Tom and went back to drawing, until Alice came back and approached my cell with a bowl of cooked bacon soup.

"Lewis?" Alice spoke and I headed over to the boarded doorway as she added, "Here, you must be hungry. Sorry, it's all we have."

"Don't worry, I'm used to eating that," I muttered stoically and Alice smiled before turning around and heading around the corner at the left side of the room.

It looked like she wanted to say more but she chose to keep it short due to the reminder that I was a prisoner that threatened to kill her and Tom. I didn't care much about what they thought about me though, and reached out to take the bowl of soup that was on the wooden board. Suddenly, a metal hand slammed down to block me and Tom came into my line of sight, just as he shoved the bowl to the floor and it shattered as soup spread on the floor in a mess.

Tom narrowed his eyes and pointed at me before tightening his hand into a fist, the message loud and clear.

"Yeah? Well, fuck you too, dickhead..." I grumbled while flipping him off, causing Tom to bare his sharp teeth at me just before he whipped around and left the hideout.

I sighed in frustration and decided to get some sleep. I headed to the bed and laid down on it before closing my eyes.

* * *

"I know you're watching me...it's just...a little creepy," Alice admitted while she kept writing on the wall.

"Sorry, but it's not like I have anything else to do in here. So...what the hell are you writing there anyway? Why the walls?" I questioned in slight confusion, causing Alice to look back at me.

"For some poor souls down here, it's the only way they can be heard. I should warn you about not touching the ink, but it already consumed you and if you make contact with it now...it can claim you, pull you back, and that's how I met Tom...I was messing with things I shouldn't have and he...he was there," Alice explained hesitantly.

"Why the hell do you keep calling him Tom?" I questioned.

"He just seems to respond to it," Alice answered like it was simple.

"Well, Tom is an asshole and I'm getting tired of his macho act," I grumbled irritably and Alice turned around so that she was fully facing me.

"Let me show you something...a while back, I was mapping out one of the upper levels when I noticed something reflecting off a piece of glass. I held up the glass, looked through, and on the wall behind me was a hidden message, right there in plain sight! So, I kept looking and found more and more messages everywhere in the studio but you can't see them with your eyes, only through this so take a look," Alice said as she held up some kinda object that looked like a crudely made mirror on a mount that was humming with a small string of lights running around it.

Feeling curious, I took the object and looked through it to see a glowing gold message on the wall in invisible ink saying 'she will leave you for dead', which didn't make me feel good at all as I saw a glowing halo above Alice's head.

"I don't know who's been leaving them, but I think they know how to get out of here," Alice explained.

"So, where the hell does it all go?" I inquired after putting down the glass and Alice lowered her head with a crestfallen expression.

"Nowhere. I followed them for a long time...just leads me in circles. I don't think I'm meant to leave this place, Lewis but maybe...you are," Alice told me as she backed up.

"If you truly think that then why the fuck haven't you let me out of here?" I asked while resting my arms on the boards.

"Tom thinks you're dangerous," Alice stated and I huffed bitterly.

"I don't give a shit what Tom thinks because you're not the ones who are trapped in a fucking cage right now and deprived of substance...besides, the one question I've been wanting to ask is what do you think?" I inquired with a steely glare.

"I...I think...you're the hope I've been waiting for. Go to sleep, maybe tomorrow will be better," Alice reassured as she headed back to the wall.

I looked away and frowned at that, wondering how she saw me as hope when I keep getting my ass kicked or losing friends in this Godforsaken place, but I shook my head. She seemed to have forgotten about the glass, so I slipped it into a pocket before I went to bed in order to sleep on it.

* * *

"That was really stupid, Tom! You shouldn't have gone out there because now that he's seen you...it's only a matter of time...before he finds us here," Alice grunted while she was busy fixing Tom's mechanical arm.

I frowned at that and thought about what she said, then my eyes widened in realization and horror rose up in me at the fact that Tom got into an altercation with the Ink Demon and my face paled at the thought of that monster finding us. The two cartoons noticed that I was watching them and Alice waved reassuringly with a smile, then she went back to work as Tom slapped the ax against his metal hand again.

I was on edge after hearing that the Ink Demon would find us and that I was trapped in this cell with no means to defend myself when that happens. I decided not to let it get to me and went back to bed so that I could be fully rested and prepared when the Ink Demon finds us.

* * *

Suddenly, I was startled awake by loud noises in the distance that were getting closer. The sound of Alice arguing with Tom made me get up and quickly head to the boarded-up doorway, where Alice and Tom were standing.

"We can't just leave him here, not with the Ink Demon outside the door!" Alice argued while she shook Tom's shoulders.

"What the fuck is going on?!" I demanded and they looked at me.

"He's coming, we need to go!" Alice stated and I felt panic setting in.

"Shit...look, I know you two don't trust me, but don't leave me to die in this place. Just let me out of here, please," I begged frantically and Alice grabbed the boards.

"You heard him, Tom, we have to let him out!" Alice screamed while she was struggling to pull the boards off in order to free me.

Tom laid a hand on her shoulder and gently shook his head, telling her that it was a waste of time and Alice looked at me with a look of distress, tears welling up in her eyes and covering her mouth with her hand.

"I'm sorry," Alice whimpered and to my horror, she and Tom took off and left me.

"Wait, let me the fuck out of here! Alice, Tom, don't leave me to die in this fucking cell!" I hollered desperately and yelled in frustration at my situation.

I quickly looked around and saw the spoon hanging on the wall that would open the door to the bathroom, pulling it and the wall next to it slid open to reveal the bathroom. I took out Alice's glass in the hopes that I would find something. A message above the toilet said 'look inside, you'll need this'. Heading over to the toilet and opening the lid for the tank, I saw a Gent pipe and took it.

With my new weapon, I headed over to the boarded-up doorway and smashed my way out, looking around the room for my weapons and seeing a large toolbox on a table. I quickly went over to the table and opened the toolbox, feeling relief when I saw my Glock, baton, pepper spray, and taser resting inside which prompted me to quickly grab my equipment and put them in their respective holsters and pouches on my belt.

Now that I was fully armed, I went through the dark tunnel and took out my flashlight to see better, coming across a Searcher that tried to swipe at me. A nasty blow to the head with my pipe took care of it. After the Searcher was dead, it melted into a puddle of ink and I continued down the hallway, killing more Searchers along the way.

Eventually, I found myself at what appeared to be a dock of some kind where a barge was sitting. I could see Alice and Tom already using one and disappearing down a large tunnel so I decided to take the one that was still docked. Spotting a lever next to the barge, I headed over and pulled it twice and watched as the barge moved down the ramp and into the black mass. I went to the barge and climbed in, pushing the ignition button and moved the small lever on the control panel up to drive down the tunnel.

"Alright...so far so good," I muttered while the barge began moving.

Shortly after, I found myself heading into a dimly lit dock that had Alice and Tom's barge sitting next to it. I saw an open metal door near the dock that led to somewhere just as my barge suddenly stopped. I was confused at first when I tried moving the lever up and down without success, then I looked at the paddlewheel and groaned slightly when I spotted globs of ink jamming it.

"Fuck my life...if it isn't one thing, it's another in this Goddamn place," I grumbled as I used the wrench to knock away any excess ink clogging the paddlewheel.

I used my Gent pipe to get rid of most of the problem but as I turned around, I saw a black mass of ink ooze up and form into a giant cartoon hand with ink stains on it. I was startled when the hand literally grabbed Alice and Tom's barge by the roof and dragged it under the ink. I scrambled to get rid of the rest of the ink quickly and throttled my barge to the left in a panic.

"Jesus, what the fuck is that thing?!" I exclaimed in alarm and I heard something moving under the ink behind me.

Even though I had no explanation for what was chasing me, I kept the barge moving down the tunnel away from the giant hand. As it got closer and closer, I cursed under my breath many times while getting rid of ink clogging up the paddlewheel and praying that the monster chasing me didn't get lucky and drag me under.

Finally, after a few minutes, I arrived in a large cavern with what appeared to be a makeshift shantytown for Lost Souls since there was one sitting at a watchtower, fishing in the ink with a fishing rod. Thankfully, I managed to make it to the docks and quickly got out of the barge. As I watched the giant hand melting back into the ink in defeat, I flipped it off.

"Yeah, asshole...you can't get me now, huh?" I muttered victoriously and navigated the single planks that led into the village.

I immediately jumped back when the last plank broke and the barge sunk into the ink, causing me to mutter under my breath about my shitty luck while I headed up the stairs to my left and entered the village.

"Okay...now, where do I go?" I wondered as I looked around and rested my hand on the butt of my gun out of habit.

From what I could see, small shack-like buildings were stacked poorly on top of each other with a tall wooden fence going around the whole village area that was secured with a locked wooden door. Directly ahead of me was a boarded-up entrance that led into a dark tunnel, papers with inky handprints on it that were sometimes with three, four, and five fingers while a message above said 'not monsters'.

Wondering if there were any secret messages hidden at this gateway, besides the common ink messages found in the studio, I took out the mirror and saw a glowing message over the one above the entryway that said 'once people, now fallen into despair', and another nearby that also said 'you bring death' with the O in the first word replaced with a skull.

"Well, that's not ominous," I remarked as I went towards the boarded-up tunnel, and I was startled when the boards were smashed through while a familiar crazed voice was shouting in a gargled demonic tone.

 **"Betrayed, abandoned! I trusted you, I gave you everything and you left me to rot! Why?! Why?!"** the voice rambled and my eyes widened in horror when I saw that the owner was Sammy, who I thought was killed by the Ink Demon weeks ago but he apparently survived and had lost any of his remaining sanity.

"Shit!" I yelped as I avoided a swing from his ax and backed up to get some breathing room while Sammy was swinging his ax wildly.

It was apparent that Sammy was now suffering from a complete psychotic break from the betrayal of his "Lord" and that it had made him completely delusional to the point where he thinks I'm the Ink Demon, which convinced me that he was too far gone to be saved at this point and needed to be put out of his misery to escape this hell that had broken him, not to mention that I had no choice if I wanted to stay alive.

I kept dodging Sammy's swings and retaliated by hitting him with precise strikes at his joints with the pipe, just as a well-placed swing sent his mask flying off his head and Sammy instantly bolted a few feet away from me with his hands covering his face.

 **"No, don't look at me! Stay away!"** Sammy cried desperately while I cautiously approached him, then he suddenly grabbed me by the neck and lifted me up while leering at me with sunken ink spots that resembled his eyes.

 **"Ah, you lied to me! You said I'd be free! Well, I'm going to free you now, free your head from your shoulders!"** Sammy snarled as he threw me to the ground, making me let go of my pipe and I choked while struggling to pull out my gun. Then I saw Tom carefully sneaking up behind Sammy while the deranged man kept me pinned.

 **"Sheep, sheep, sheep, it's time for...sleep!"** Sammy declared just as Tom sent his ax deep into Sammy's head. Releasing me, Sammy started stumbling around in a daze.

Taking advantage, I pulled out my gun and fired three shots into Sammy, the impacts knocking him to the ground. I had aimed at Tom warily, who was retrieving his ax from Sammy's now motionless body and looking down at me. As Sammy melted into ink, Tom flipped the ax and held out the handle for me to grab, causing me to feel confused as I holstered my gun and took the ax while I stood up.

"Oh really, now you trust me?" I questioned sarcastically and Tom shrugged, then I gave my answer to that by kicking him in the family jewels and sending him to the ground with a punch to the muzzle.

"That was for knocking me out in the haunted house and that was for leaving me to die in that fucking cell...and not in that order!" I growled hotly just as Alice was approaching.

"Lewis, are you okay? You're lucky we were in the neighborhood," Alice stated in relief while Tom was unsteadily standing up and nursing his groin.

"Maybe I am, considering the fact that you two held me hostage for God knows how long," I spat darkly and Alice flinched at that.

"That's not...look, we're sorry for the whole prisoner thing but we only did it out of fear and safety. I mean, you were a stranger who was threatening to kill us and I did mention that strangers down here were...you know what, nevermind since it's not important anyway, and I'm sorry we had to leave you to die because there was no other choice," Alice reasoned but I still glared at her and Tom, letting them know that I was far from eager to forgive and trust them.

"Yeah, though maybe I should lock you two up and see how you assholes like it," I threatened lowly and Tom clenched his fists, forcing Alice to lay a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"Tom, it's okay. Listen, Lewis, we'll make it up to you by helping you out and you help us out. I understand if you don't want to trust us if you think we don't deserve it, but we all want out of this damn studio and we promise we won't turn on you or lock you up again," Alice reassured but I still wasn't convinced.

"You better not...because my temper is a lot shorter these days and my list of friends in this place is not very big in the first place. You want to gain my trust, earn it because trust is earned, not given and you two sure as hell haven't earned it because your words aren't going to convince me," I stated shortly and Alice nodded in understanding.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake slightly with a quiet rumbling that made all three of us go back to back with our weapons ready.

"What the hell was that? Was that..."Bendy"?" I questioned to no one in particular.

"The Ink Demon? No, I don't think so...the Searchers and Lost Ones built this place, so Sammy must've been keeping them at bay. Now that he's gone...looks like we're in for a fight so get ready!" Alice warned just as many Searchers and the named Lost Ones oozed into the area as black goo and formed into their humanoid forms.

"Watch it, we have incoming!" I notified urgently while I readied my ax for the fight.

I started dodging many attacks and kept my distance while Alice and Tom fought back, though I knew that the Lost Ones and Searchers were scared and misunderstood at this point. They were nothing more than victims of Joey Drew's greed and corruption, and they begged me to help them escape this hell so I couldn't bring myself to try and kill them since I was beyond sick of all the death, killing, and carnage in this place. I kicked a Lost One away and breathed in deeply.

"Everybody, sssstttoooppp!" I screamed at the top of my lungs and just like that, there was complete silence in the room with no more fighting, no more attacking, and everyone from Alice, Tom, the Searchers, and Lost Ones froze in place from my bellowing roar while focusing their attention on me.

"Look, I know that you all are suffering from this hell and I'm sorry that all of this horrific shit happened to you, but I'm here to help you all and trying to kill me isn't going to help the situation. I made you all a promise to free you from this unholy nightmare and I need you to trust me to save you all. So please...let me help you," I pleaded with a tired expression.

All of the Searchers and Lost Ones looked at each other before they all backed away and gave me knowing nods, which made Tom and Alice look confused but Alice appeared mostly relieved that I was able to defuse the situation by talking some sense into the ink creatures that were completely desperate at this point.

"Nicely done, Lewis. It's probably best that we stick together from now on, no matter what," Alice stated while I sighed.

"I'll just be glad about leaving this place, taking a nice hot shower, and getting into a clean bed so that I can take a very long nap," I muttered wearily just as Alice headed to the locked gate and used her machete to slice the chains.

"Lewis, think you can lead the way?" Alice offered with a smile as the gate opened.

I just shrugged in response and headed through the gate with the cartoons right behind me, approaching a boarded-up entrance and chopping down the boards with my ax. We went into the corridor and stopped when we saw that the floor was gone with only planks placed above the dark pit that didn't look very safe to cross.

"Shit...it just keeps on getting better and better in this place. Well, I don't suppose we could do a coin toss to decide who goes first?" I suggested and looks of confusion from the others made me add, "Fuck it, I'll go first so just stay back until I make it to the other side since this doesn't look very safe and we need to go one at a time just in case."

I carefully stepped onto the plank and tested its durability, nodding in satisfaction and stepped onto the next one but it suddenly broke and I flung my arms around desperately to grab the walkway, only I missed and started plummeting down into the abyss below.

"Lewis!" Alice cried in horror as I fell, seeing looks of terror on her and Tom's faces as they faded away until I could no longer see where I just fell from.

I had let go of my ax when I started falling and I saw it breaking apart against a wall it hit, just as my back splashed against the black ink below. I felt my body starting to ripple and melt into black goo to join with the mass, hearing unintelligible whispers overlapping each other as my form was losing cohesion and becoming similar to a Searcher just as it lost its shape and oozed down as it merged with the ink.

I struggled to regain my form as squelching sounds rang out in the room, a black tar-like mass oozing out of the inky river and undulating as a gooey hand rose up and took shape to reach out to the air. I lost concentration and the hand melted back into the black mass, feeling frustrated and focused as hard as I could to reform myself. Finally, my form slowly rose up and started gaining more definition as it flowed upwards, my humanoid shape becoming complete and my black mass sunk into my false flesh as my uniform and duty belt appeared.

I groaned from the experience and rested my hands on my knees, feeling like I had drained a fair amount of energy and was fatigued because of it.

"Jesus..." I gasped while I was breathing heavily, regaining my breath and standing up fully to get my bearings.

I could see that I was in a dimly lit area that led out into a room, spotting a symbol of the Seeing Tool written on the wall in ink that made me take out the object in question and look through the glass to see a message that said 'it's inside the Vault', which told me that I was getting close to something. I put away the Seeing Tool and looked up, seeing the very faint figures of Alice and Tom still looking down.

"I'm okay! I'll go on ahead so keep going until you two find a way down and meet up with me later!" I shouted up at them.

"Be careful!" Alice responded back to me and they backed out of my line of sight.

"When am I not in this shithole?" I muttered to myself and pulled out my gun as I headed towards the lit room.

Heading inside the room, I could see that I was in a waiting room of some kind with wooden benches on the left and a receptionist's booth on the right, hearing classical music playing on the speakers as I spotted a large entryway that was currently closed by a metal security door. I saw the sign above the door said that I was in an administration area and I was very confused as to why the businessmen and heads of the studio had offices so far below underground.

"Christ...the longer I stay here, the more questions pop up about this place," I murmured as I looked to my left and saw a door that led into a place called the Film Vault.

I turned to my left and headed to the door, opening it and going inside to see an assortment of pipes on the wall with three of them missing.

"Hmmm...interesting," I muttered as I spotted a door on the left that had a corridor flooded with ink and I sighed.

"Why the hell does that not surprise me? I'm so tired of this shit," I grumbled in exasperation while I looked to my right to see an office.

I headed into the office and saw a recorder resting on a chair. I went to the recorder and played it, and I heard Thomas Conner speaking.

"Progress report to Gent home office. Client: Joey Drew Studios. Although we're making progress, the client's expectations keep changing. What started as a machine to simply mold life-size figures, now seems to be teetering on the edge of magic more than engineering, although Mr. Drew remains convinced that they are the same thing.

The process of running the cartoon film through the machine for the figures to imprint upon is going well, and we've had several near successes. One weird note, the first figure ever created was a failed attempt in the likeness of the character called Bendy and since that time, no other attempts of this particular figure have emerged. And the one that did, I dunno, there's just something...unworldly about him," Thomas reported just as the tape stopped.

I was unresponsive since I didn't know how to react to that, hearing that the Ink Machine created life-sized figures...no, not figures, the Machine created everyone in this place. It was responsible for Susie becoming Alice, Allison, Boris, and Tom...all of them were affected by that fucking Machine. Was Boris a figurine? Was he a person that became a victim to the ink like me? As my mind struggled to understand what I just heard, my eyes widened in horror when something hit me about what Thomas said and I backed away from the recorder.

"Oh my God...that first failure was...was...the Ink Demon," I gasped in realization.

It made complete sense now...that monster wandering the halls of this place and trying to kill me was the first creation of an experiment to literally bring cartoons to life as actual people, but from what I had seen, something must've gone horribly wrong and the first attempt was a failure of bringing Bendy to life, forcing the Studio employees to give up on that to bring the other characters to life.

"Fuck...what the hell was Mr. Drew trying to do in this place? What was he trying to achieve by making cartoons into actual people?" I wondered in shock.

Filing that away for later, I left the office and returned to the waiting room where I saw an ink maker with pipe symbols that gave me an idea on how to drain the ink that was blocking the way into the Film Vault. Going into the receptionist's booth, I saw a lever on my right and pulled it, then I left the room and saw the security door rising and giving me a new path to go through. Just before I went in, I stopped and felt irritation when I saw one of the Butcher Gang clones moving into my line of sight from the left hallway and going into the right hallway.

"Not these assholes again...okay, I'm going to have to take out these ugly pricks quietly so I don't alert the Ink Demon," I muttered as I holstered my gun and pulled out my ASP baton.

Flicking the baton open, I carefully moved down the hallway and looked left and right for any threats, ducking into the nearest office and seeing one of the clones pass by the window. I noticed a recorder on a small table and I played it to hear Joey Drew speaking.

"A small memo to all administrative offices, rumors have begun to fly that we simply can't tolerate any longer! The idea that the company is in some form of financial difficulty is untrue and a slanderous lie against us. It's also been known to me that some backroom incompetents are not trusting in my leadership so as a leader, I'm always steering the boat, guiding our destiny, and looking at the big picture.

No need for you people to worry about such complicated things so just do whatever it is you do and trust your leader, which is me," Joey stated as the tape stopped and I was rendered speechless.

"Jesus...when my great grandfather left the studio back then before he went missing and died here, he made the right choice because this fucker was so completely out of his mind that he thought that he was God," I muttered in disbelief as I spotted an Edgar clone passing the door.

I quietly left the office and snuck up behind the clone, knocking him down with a kick and smashing his head in with a stomp. I kept moving until I entered an office and saw a recorder that belonged to Wally Franks, then I played it for any useful information.

"So, it turns out it's my lucky day! I got to clean some of the offices around 2:00 AM last night and what do you think I find on one of the chairs? A big fuckin' chocolate cake just sitting there, practically yelling my damn name! You know, I work hard, I earn my fuckin' pay, every damn dollar, but do you know what this company's missing? Little benefiting perks...and this here cake? It's an honest-to-God perk! Hopefully, no one finds out what I've done. Cause if they did, I can tell you what would happen...I'm outta here!" Wally declared just before the tape stopped.

"You know what Wally...after finding out what kind of a person Joey Drew is, I really don't blame you," I stated lowly and left the office where I came upon the Charley clone I saw previously.

Before it could react, I clubbed it hard with the baton and caved in its face with heavy strikes that made the body melt into a puddle of ink. I let out deep breaths and continued on, killing the last Butcher Gang clone along the way and discovered a recording on a table between two doors. I played the recorder and heard Joey speaking.

"Listen, Tommy, I know you boys over at Gent are doing your best but I'm paying for living attractions, not weird ugly abominations! Whatever that grinning fucking thing was I saw wandering around your office, you better keep it locked up tight! I realize that it was the first attempt but just imagine if the damn press caught sight of it! It might scare off investors!

And in response to your previous memo: if you claim your failures are because these things are soulless, then damn it, we'll get them a soul! After all, I own thousands of them!" Joey declared arrogantly as the tape stopped.

Souls, that was it...Susie, Sammy, Allison, and...the Gent worker...he was Tom the Wolf. All those people in this place who went missing over the years until the Studio went bankrupt and was shut down, they were sacrificed to the Machine all to get "perfect" figures of his cartoons...and my great grandfather was...!

"I...I'm going to be fucking sick," I whimpered while I slapped a hand over my mouth, struggling hard not to throw up right then and there.

Those coffins I had seen when I first arrived here, they were the workers...they were people my great grandfather had worked with, had been friends with... and Joey killed all of them just for his twisted and fucked up financial gain. This was beyond wrong on so many levels and it crossed so many lines that nothing would ever get it out of my head. I quickly turned away from the recorder and went through the maze again, finally making it to the far end where I found the office of Joey Drew with a well of ink near it.

"There it is...the head honcho's office itself," I muttered as I glared at the office of the one person who had caused so much hell and suffering in this Godawful place.

I put away my baton and pulled out my gun, heading to the door and quickly entering the office, aiming around just in case. Not seeing any threats, I holstered my gun and looked around to see the same spinning wheels I saw weeks ago at the end of the room behind the desk, displaying the Studio's name above. Dusty plaques hung on the decayed wallpaper and a single recorder sat on the desk with the lamp turned on. I headed over to the recorder and hesitantly played it to hear Joey again.

"I know how much this part means to you Susie, Alice means a lot to me too, all my characters do! In fact, I'll let you in on a little secret...like you, I actually believe my characters are more than just drawings. They're alive, they're a part of us, and I want people to know them as well as I do. I want people to be able to shake their hands, spend an afternoon with 'em, and love them.

Susie, I'll be straight with you, I'm putting together a small project...a little ceremony. If it works, a lot of dreams will come true and I want you to be a part of it...I want you to bring Alice to life once again. What do ya say?" Joey proposed just as the tape stopped.

I immediately cupped both hands over my mouth and backed away from the desk, feeling beyond horrified and revolted at the knowledge of what had happened to Susie.

"Oh my fucking God...she probably needed the money during the Great Depression, she thought her dreams had come true when she came here. When she was replaced, she must've been devastated, she must've been desperate and that disgusting excuse for a human being took advantage of her to use her as a test subject in his act of playing God. Joey Drew...I hope that you are suffering an unthinkable kind of torture in hell," I snarled lividly and quickly left so that I didn't start breaking things out of sheer fury.

I headed over to the ink well and scooped up a bucket-full of ink, retracing my steps back to the waiting room and using the Ink Maker to create three pipes that would fit. I headed back to the wall of pipes and placed the three into their respective places. After hearing the ink in the corridor drain, I pulled out my gun as I approached the door. I opened the door and crossed through the corridor, ignoring the ink that was on the floor as I entered the area that led to the Film Vault and was shocked to see the giant vault door hanging off the hinge on its side.

"Jesus Christ...what the hell did that? The amount of strength it would take to break down that door..." I trailed off and paled at the thought of something running around loose in this place that's capable of doing that.

I shook it off and entered the Vault, seeing that it was barely lit and filled with boxes, though I spotted a box covered with ink which told me that was something to investigate. Approaching the box, I opened it and peered in to see that there were two rolls of film and only a glob of ink that told me something used to be in here.

"Hmmm...something was here, but it's gone," I muttered as I examined the box and the contents for any clues.

"Looks like whatever was here was taken long ago," a voice rang out behind me, causing me to yelp and whip around to aim at Alice and Tom, who held up their hands with startled expressions as they suddenly stopped moving.

"Lewis, don't shoot! It's us!" Alice reassured frantically and I quickly lowered my gun while breathing heavily.

"Son of a bitch, are you two trying to get yourselves killed?! You scared the shit out of me and I nearly shot the both of you! How the hell did you two get down here so fast?" I asked after calming myself down.

"Sorry for scaring you...we didn't mean to and as for how we got down here, it pays to carry a rope. You should try it," Alice remarked while tapping a hand at her belt, and I shot her an unamused look.

"Well smartass, excuse me for trying to stay alive in this hellhole," I retorted and sighed, running a hand through my messy and matted hair as I added, "Look, I think I know where we need to go, but neither of you is going to like it. The Ink Demon is no doubt mostly responsible for all of this carnage, but not all of it because Joey Drew is the true monster behind this hellish nightmare...that Inky bastard has something that we need to end all of this...and I'm going to get it back."

"You want to go into his lair?! Are you crazy?! That's death!" Alice shouted incredulously with a look of horror, Tom appearing just as shocked at my suicide plan.

"I know, I'm really not too thrilled about it either, but what other choice do we have? If that monster has something that could free us from this hell, then I'm willing to enter the mouth of hell itself to get it...look, I just want this shit to end and I know that I'll never be the same again after all of this. If you guys don't want to come with me, then that's your choice but I want this hell to end and if there are answers as to how this all started, then I'd rather know the truth. If I die in this place, I'd rather die knowing why," I stated firmly as I checked the nearby metal doors and Alice blinked at that.

"Well, it's probably close by, probably through that door...you're insane, you do know that, right?" Alice questioned in disbelief and a nod from me made her sigh as she went to the doors to examine them.

"This won't be easy to open...I'll need three gears, a crowbar...hmm, some kind of counterbalance-" Alice listed and Tom, apparently not wanting to waste time, headed over to the doors and broke it open with a single hit from his mechanical hand.

"Huh...well, that works too, I guess," Alice replied with a shrug while Tom shook his metallic hand with a smug look.

"Um...that was...not bad, Tom," I said hesitantly and gestured for them to follow me as I went through the entrance with the others behind me.

I was taken aback when the hallway went into a room that looked so much like the first floor with the projector, cutouts, and the drawing table.

"What the hell? It's like we went back to the beginning," I whispered under my breath while we moved on.

As we progressed down the corridor on the left, we came across a foggy glass window that led into another hallway, just as familiar black tendrils oozed into view and I instantly blocked Alice and Tom with an arm as the Ink Demon came lumbering into our line of sight. I looked back at Alice and Tom, frantically gesturing them to stay quiet and they nodded as they each took out their respective weapons just in case.

I witnessed the monster's skeletal body limp past us on the other side of the glass, heading in the same direction we were while I heard that heavy breathing and inky sounds that will always stay with me in my nightmares. Once the Ink Demon was further down the hall, we carefully headed down our section and I spared a final look at the monster...and my heart nearly stopped when he paused and slowly turned his head to look right at me.

Tom, Alice, and I completely froze up while I wondered if he heard us, but we all stood still until the Ink Demon head tilted to the side as his grin got larger, then he continued along his path and I relaxed slightly but still felt tense at the fact that he was going in the same direction we were.

 _"Ah shit...he's heading to where we're going, isn't he?"_ I thought uneasily and moved around the corner to see an arrow pointing right with the word 'death' above it.

Every logical part of me screamed that this was a bad idea to top them all because Allison was right that I was entering the lair of the Ink Demon, and he would be waiting for me since he knew it. As we kept moving, we went through an exit and slowed down as we entered a giant cavern...all of us stopping as I took in the sight before me with a stunned expression.

The Ink Machine, the very creation that started this hell, that I had seen descending deeper and deeper into the Studio, was finally taking its position atop a massive system with a giant nozzle that had so many pipes coming in and out of it with the walls around it being carved to fit in the pipework.

"Oh...my...God...it's a giant ink machine. This entire fucking thing is supplying ink to the entire studio," I breathed out in astonishment while Alice walked past and stood in front of the lake of ink.

"Wow...I've never seen this before! I don't see any way around...nothing to build a raft with," Alice notified me and Tom as I saw an entrance under the giant nozzle.

"Well, we'll just wade through it then...it doesn't look too deep," I replied as Tom and I came over to her, only for her to look back with a pained expression as she shook her head.

"We can't...you might have been able to cross before the ink consumed you, but if all three of us go in there, well...a drop of water in the ocean is rarely seen again," Alice warned and I frowned at that.

What she was saying is that since all three of us are made of ink and we go in there, we'll merge with it and never exist again. I was pissed...no, I was livid that we were so close to ending this, only to be stopped by fucking ink? It was unfair on all counts and it was a sign that I could be trapped here forever, but I narrowed my eyes and made my decision. I didn't care if the ink took me permanently this time, I was going to escape this hell with my new allies and I'll be damned if a lake of ink will stop me.

"I see...I don't care about the ink, I'm still going in there even if it kills me," I declared, causing Alice and Tom to quickly look at me like I was nuts.

"Are you out of your mind?! If you go in there, you would cease to exist! You have a serious death wish, Lewis!" Alice scolded in disbelief, and she along with Tom was taken aback when I looked at them with an expression of complete seriousness.

"I know that this is risky and the most dumbass decision I've ever made in my life, but I'm not going to let Goddamn ink stop me from ending this. I made a promise to all of the people trapped here that I would get them out, and I'll keep upholding that promise," I vowed, causing Tom and Alice to look at me with a hint of respect.

"If you're not going to back out, then we'll make sure to pray for you and hope that you make it," Alice stated and I nodded before chuckling bitterly.

"Shit...looks like I'm going to be on my own again, and I still have no fucking idea why this is happening to me...why did he do this? Why did that bastard do this to everyone here? You, Tom, and...everyone else...you were innocent and he did this, for his own sick financial gain!" I shouted in frustration as I looked down and tried to regain my composure, but a hand rested on my shoulder and I looked up to see Tom staring at me in concern.

"You're here for a reason, Lewis. There's always a reason, even when you can't understand it. We may have lost our past and who we were, but with you...you can give us a future. It's time, set us free!" Alice encouraged as Tom backed up and I nodded.

"I will...Allison Pendle, Thomas Conner," I agreed with a smile and they perked up at the names.

"Those names...they sound so familiar like we've heard them before," Allison mumbled while Thomas made gestures that showed his confusion.

"That's because they are your names. Allison, you were the second voice actress for Alice Angel and Tom, you were a Gent worker that worked at the Studio as a repairman," I explained and they looked thoughtful at the information I had given them.

"Yes...that all seems very familiar to me so it must be who we were before the ink consumed us. Thank you, Lewis, for telling us who we were," Allison said gratefully and I nodded.

I looked away from them and took a deep breath as I looked at the giant machine. This was it because the moment I go in there, the moment I passed through that door, there was no going back. When I had first entered the Studio, I was following up on a call and had no idea what I was doing after that, I still had no idea what I'm doing but things were getting clearer and clearer the further I descended into hell.

Hard truths that my great grandfather never knew, gained allies...and lost friends. I reached into my pocket and took out the cassette tape of Henry's recording that has surprisingly stayed intact all this time. After everything, it was still here. I closed my palm around it and placed it back into my pocket...I would make him proud, Henry, Boris, and every other poor soul who died in this place and became trapped in this endless hell of Joey Drew's nightmare.

"Let's end this shit, for good. God, give me strength," I muttered as I started to head towards the lake of ink.

* * *

I had managed to cross the lake of ink with all of my concentration in order to keep my form intact, then I made it to the other side and entered the giant machine where the Ink Demon was waiting for me. As I moved through the large hallway, I looked at the glass cases around me and saw Lost Ones and clones of Boris while black ink poured down onto them.

Grimacing at the sight, I headed to the large metal door and got my gun ready, approaching the lever and pulling it which caused the giant doors to slide open. I went through the larger hallway and found myself in a circular room with an inky throne in the middle, seeing a machine on the left playing all of the familiar cartoons that were on screens overhead. The Butcher Gang, Alice, Boris, Bendy, everyone in their lovable animated forms acting out in repeated clips from some of my favorite cartoons that I saw as a child. It was nostalgic, confusing, and terrifying all at once.

"Incredible..." I muttered as I took in everything around me with astonishment before my eyes went back to looking at the throne.

Propped up against it was a recorder that must hold all the answers to everything that had happened in this place, and I made my way up the steps as they tilted a little. At the top, I shot a confused glance at the film reel laying against an armrest in the throne, before freezing at what was clear to me. Two large handles stuck out from the top of the back of the seat and looped together to make several dangling chains...were halos.

From what I could see, there were other Alice Angels beside the ones I knew...and a cold chill in my blood wanted me to flee and get my allies on the other side of the Machine as far away from here as possible...but I reached out and played the recorder to hear Joey speaking.

"It's simply awe-inspiring what one can accomplish with their own hands. A lump of clay can turn to meaning...if you strangle it with enough enthusiasm. Look at what we've built, we created life itself, Henry! Not just on the silver screens, but in the hearts of those we entertain with our fancy moving pictures. But...when the tickets stop selling...when the next big thing came along...only the monsters remain...shadows of the past.

But you can save them, Henry, you can peel it all away! You see, there's only one thing Bendy has never known...he was there for his beginning, but he has never seen...The End," Joey stated just as the tape stopped.

"The End," I echoed as I holstered my gun and took the reel so that I could examine it.

I felt conflicted at everything, wanting to hate Joey for everything he's done...but the tone of regret I'd heard on the recorder made me wonder what Joey was thinking when he passed on from this life, seeing everything he built fall apart due to his greed and he might've regretted everything in his last days. Turning the reel over, the label on it matched what he was hinting at and I was confused. This thing was the key to ending this hell? That seemed to be too simple since, during my time in this Studio, nothing was ever this simple.

Suddenly, a noise made me look up and I saw the Ink Demon standing behind the chair with his hands resting on top of it. I yelped in alarm and immediately stumbled back down the stairs to get my distance, causing the monster to grin at me.

 **"Hello, Stein,"** the Ink Demon gurgled and my terrified-looking face faltered.

"You know that I'm not him because you're clearly smart enough to know that," I stated and the monster's ink-filled chuckles sent a chill up my spine.

 **"Yes, I'm quite aware of who your great grandfather is. It's a shame, I was hoping for him to make his grand appearance but...you will have to do,"** the Ink Demon said, his words becoming clearer as he went on.

"Why? Why do this? Why do all of this?" I questioned while the Ink Demon was lightly drumming his fingers on the leather seat.

 **"Why? isn't it obvious? They were terrified of me. I wasn't "perfect" in their eyes and deemed a waste, a malformed copy, and they shut me away all because they didn't want to ruin their precious image. The real kicker, pal, is that unlike you or the others, I've got no soul. All the others after me do...but me? I'm an empty shell,"** the Ink Demon told me as he went around the chair and headed towards me, forcing me to back up as I pulled out my gun.

My back hit the wall just by the edge of the hall where I could see the doors closed shut. Was he responsible or were they on a timer? It didn't matter since I was trapped, cornered by the Ink Demon as I forced myself to respond.

"Just because you don't have a soul doesn't mean anything! What the fuck did that dictate?!" I exclaimed in disbelief and the Ink Demon leaned forward slightly.

 **"It means that everything I had learned, was due to their treatment of me. Haven't you ever been insulted? Yelled at and told that what you were and how you behaved was an irregularity?!"** the Ink Demon growled and I frowned as I recalled my parents being completely against me becoming a cop on the account it was too dangerous.

 **"I thought so...they locked me away but he still feared me. Despite all of his experiments, I was the one thing he was unable to control,"** the Ink Demon stated.

"Then...you were the only Bendy that was created, right? Are there more of you?" I inquired and a laugh from him made me uneasy.

 **"You could say that...but they were nothing more than pathetic wastes of ink. When I was created, there was only darkness and ink...whatever flowed from my body would return to me since I was its master but the ink, as you no doubt are aware, is not normal. There's life in its substance, corrupted magic, and eventually...those drippings gained consciousness,"** the Ink Demon explained.

"You mean...that there are more of you? Oh God...you killed them, didn't you?" I accused in realization as I started shaking in horror.

 **"Hehehe...smart man. Yes, I ended their existence because what good is there another me wandering around if they could barely stand on their own two feet in the beginning? Unfortunately, by the time they started forming into existence, Joey had already left the building, only to return every few years to check in. How cruel, isn't it? To have the perfect beings everyone wanted you to be, to be born of the cartoon remains I emerged from only to be useless in the end?**

 **But...now we arrive at the real matter, pal. The heart of my problem...or should I say...soul?"** the Ink Demon drawled as he looked up at the cartoons that were playing, their mute and cheery displays contrasting the tense air in the room as he looked back at me and started eyeing the reel that was in my hand.

"You're not getting this, you asshole. Even though the concept of death by this thing confuses the hell out of me, you'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands," I vowed and the Ink Demon chuckled in amusement.

 **"Still defiant to the bitter end, I see? No matter. I have to say, Lewis...not having a soul like all the others...it just ain't right. But perhaps...I'll get one after all..."** the Ink Demon trailed off as he reached out and gripped my jaw to make me look up at him.

 **"I know you, Lewis...I've seen how you react during your time here. You, unlike the creators, hold a fondness to this place that inspired you to become who you are today. Your looks of astonishment, joking in the face of death...all I need is a host to merge with me and I'll finally be the cartoon people want me to be!**

 **There was only one living soul left in this company and since he, unfortunately, died years ago and you continued what he started...you're mine, now,"** the Ink Demon declared with a sadistic grin as he lifted me up slightly.

The Ink Demon stepped back as he shoved me against the wall as his hands started to grow, the glove ripping to shreds as his arms extended to an inhuman size. My back was already against the wall, nowhere to run and forced to watch as the Ink Demon underwent a horrifying transformation into something that lived up to his name. His horns grew several inches, claws forming as they left gouges on the floor beneath him, legs shriveling up as most of the ink in his body flowed to his upper body structure, black mass oozed over the malicious grin and the blank area formed another mouth.

In the place of his grin was teeth, massive sharp teeth with the mouth going from horn to horn as he breathed deeply and hid head loomed high above me.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" I screamed in terror as the monster let out an ear-splitting roar that nearly rendered me deaf.

Before I could react, Beast Bendy swung a fist and sent me crashing through the wall, and I gagged from the pain as I landed into a hallway with more glass cases where Beast Bendy was hunting me. I spat up ink and woozily stood up, seeing the monster moving at an alarming amount of speed like a gorilla and once he reached a wall, he melted against it like a black canvas and sank through it to reappear somewhere else.

I quickly searched the area and found switches, pulling a few and making sure not to get killed until I pulled the last one and saw a door at the end of a hallway opening up. I started running as I've never run before just as Beast Bendy came through a wall and chased after me with a snarl, rushing past the entrance as his teeth brushed my uniform shirt and the door slammed shut.

I aimed my gun at the door with one hand while backing up quickly. Did I have a chance in fighting the Ink Demon? In his previous form, possibly, but I sure as hell didn't have a chance now since that thing's teeth and claws would rip me apart. I was insane, not stupid. I continued down the small corridor and entered a large room with four giant glass pipes and two screens playing Bendy cartoons while the same taunting message I found in the Boris clone's sacrificial room was between them.

I spotted a single wheel that would send the ink through the pipes and I went over to turn it, ink flowing into the pipes just as Beast Bendy oozed through the wall and he snarled when he saw me.

"Alright...you want me, then come and get me, you motherfucker!" I egged the monster on and he obliged by charging at me.

I quickly fired three shots and took cover behind one of the ink pipes, just as Beast Bendy crashed against it and shattered the glass. I moved out of cover and fired two more shots just as the slide locked back, making me cuss under my breath as I lured Beast Bendy to the next pipe. I dumped the mag and reloaded my gun with a fresh one as Beast Bendy shattered the next pipe, and I ran for the third one. Beast Bendy roared in frustration as I took cover and he shattered the third pipe with a hit, but when I ran towards the last pipe, I was sent flying into a wall when a fist slammed into me.

I had experienced pain, a lot since I had entered this place, but nothing would ever compare to the moment those three claws ripped into my chest and down to my side, my uniform shirt and kevlar vest tearing from the sudden assault as the area was splayed black with ink. I couldn't tell if I was screaming, because everything was muted at that moment as I struggled to stand up by sheer willpower alone, gripping my side as I tried to limp away with Beast Bendy stalking me like a predator.

 **"You best be saying goodbye, Lewis Stein, 'cause that soul is mine!"** Beast Bendy declared victoriously and I quickly fired a shot into his head.

"Suck...on...that...you ugly...prick," I gurgled while Beast Bendy roared in fury.

I managed to take cover behind the pipe as he smashed it, just as the lights and the screens suddenly shut off and everything went silent after that. I limped frantically to the open door nearby and finding myself in the throne room again, taking the reel out and pushing it into the contraption that would start it up. As the reel began to spin, I headed to the chair and slumped into it as Beast Bendy was entering the room and ready to rip me apart.

 _"Sorry everyone, looks like I'm not coming home after all,"_ I thought regretfully as I recalled my co-workers, Beast Bendy reaching out for me just as the screens showed a bright light with the words 'The End' on them.

Beast Bendy saw the words and recoiled, shielding the light with his arms and screeching in pain as my vision distorted again like last time. Beast Bendy kept letting out noises of agony as light boiled on his body, and he fell to his knees while looking up at me.

 **"You...you! This is my world, mine! You can't take it away from me!"** Beast Bendy screamed desperately as he was disintegrating, lunging at me with his mouth open.

"I just did, you Goddamn monster," I wheezed and aimed my gun at him.

I fired a shot into his face and the body burst into a bright light, then there was nothing but silence as my vision cleared up to show me that I was alone.

"It's finally over...I did it, Henry, Boris," I gasped quietly and tears started running down my cheeks as I holstered my gun.

I cried in pure relief that this hellish nightmare was finally over and that the souls of those who died here were finally free, then I saw something out of the corner of my eye and looked to see two translucent men smiling at me. One man had nice brushed back hair and a mustache, and the other was the man I had seen on Henry's driver's license.

"Lewis...thank you, for freeing everyone and ending this curse," Henry said as he and the man, who I presumed was Joey, faded away with smiles and I was left alone.

I laughed breathlessly and groaned as I struggled to stand up, limping off of the throne and leaving the lair to see that Allison and Thomas were gone with only puddles of ink in their place. I was sad that they were gone, but I was happy that they were able to pass on from this world and find peace at last. I kept moving through the Studio and backtracked until I found an elevator that would take me back to the first floor.

I pushed the button, praying that it would work and was elated that the elevator was moving, all of it feeling like a dream and hoping that it wasn't as the elevator finally stopped on the first floor. I saw the familiar hallways and caught the disgusting smell of blood, heading towards the entrance and stopping when I saw several dead NYPD uniformed officers with empty guns and looking like they were either impaled, dismembered, or decapitated.

I felt guilt rise up as I remembered sending out a 10-13 when I was first attacked by the Ink Demon and all these officers must've arrived here and died fighting against the monster. I passed the dead officers and headed to the entrance of the Studio, seeing most of the ceiling caved in. I exited the front door and had to shield my eyes from the bright lights of the Police and Emergency vehicle perimeter. I could make out several ESU officers aiming M4s and MP5A2s at me with other officers just behind them with shotguns, Glock 17s, and Sig Sauers.

I raised my hands in the air as I yelled, "Don't shoot! I'm Officer Lewis Stein and my weapon is holstered. I have been held captive in this building for weeks."

I kept my arms raised high while an officer approached me carefully, removed my weapons, and patted me down. When it was safe, I was escorted to an ambulance for medical attention. I squinted my eyes as the lights of the police cruisers, ambulances, and ESU trucks nearly blinded me. I could see that it was nighttime and a few uniformed officers were keeping a small crowd of onlookers back as I headed to one of the ambulances while taking in the sweet fresh air. I made it to one of the ambulances and the EMTs looked horrified at my injuries.

"Oh my God! Hold on officer, we're going to get you to the ER!" the man stated as he and his partner helped me sit down on the stretcher for assessment and stabilization.

The ESU Captain approached me and a look of shock crossed his face at the state of me, seeing me covered in ink and looking badly injured.

"Officer Stein? Thank God you're still alive because we were worried that you died in there a few weeks ago. Are there any other survivors?" the ESU Captain questioned while resting a free hand on my shoulder in concern.

"Sadly, no sir. There are officers down in the lobby. The situation is resolved, however, and the team can proceed in with caution," I replied tiredly. "Be sure to sweep the extensive tunnels and areas underneath the building, there are bodies down there that are decades old."

"Thank you Officer, you just focus on getting better. We will follow up with a more detailed briefing later," the Captain said as he turned away, then shouted to the team, "Move in, go, go, go! Proceed with caution!"

The EMTs efficiently secured me to the stretcher and loaded me into the back of the ambulance. One of them jumped in with me and the other jumped into the driver's seat. As we started moving, I stared up at the ceiling as the sirens blared and my eyes closed as I passed out from sheer exhaustion.

* * *

The figure watched through the window as the ambulance sped away from the Studio and he felt intrigued, wondering why that police officer is still solid while the others had melted and their souls have moved on. There was something different about that officer and the figure decided to keep an eye on him and see if anything will happen.

"How very interesting...Lewis Stein, you have certainly caught my attention," the figure stated in a raspy male voice and he chuckled at the prospect of things getting more interesting.

 **To be continued in Bendy And The Dark Revival.**

* * *

A/N Holy crap, it is finished...for now. That's right, Lewis's story isn't over yet and will continue in the Dark Revival and any sequels in the Bendy Universe.

One more thing, all of you might not be happy that Allison and Thomas died but when you think about it, the end of the Ink Demon freed the souls of Joey's victims and they were able to move on in order to find peace. If you all like the story, let me know how you all liked the ending of part one in Lewis' story.


End file.
